


Challenge accepted

by littlemissrose



Series: Benedict Ormond Holmes [1]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies), Sherlock (TV)
Genre: During Skyfall, Q (James Bond) is a Holmes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:00:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 32,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23358919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlemissrose/pseuds/littlemissrose
Summary: Benedict Ormond Holmes had never wanted any power when he started working at MI6. But as an explosion rocked the building he saw no other option but to take his career, and the whole organisation to a whole new level...
Series: Benedict Ormond Holmes [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1680085
Comments: 98
Kudos: 250
Collections: A Collection of Beloved Inserts





	1. Becoming Q

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction and I'm utterly terrified at the thought of posting it but I'm going to do it anyway. I've been writing and enjoying it for a few years now and now that it's almost complete I finally feel ready to start posting the first chapters for others to enjoy as well. Hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I do.

“All right, where to next?” Asked Benedict Ormond Holmes, or Ormond Greaves as the minor employee of Q-branch of MI6 was known as, whilst staring at his screens. Normally, MI6 didn’t track its agents, they didn’t feel the need to keep track of them apparently. But this request had come directly from the British Government and you did what you had to for family.

“Hamburg.” Was the reply over the com in his ear. He started typing.

“Got a plane ticket booked, first class. And three different hotel rooms at different price ranges for your needs. And, brother dearest, do try not to pull the same trick as you pulled in India? The conspiracy theorists are starting to notice a pattern.”

“But I get ever so BORED, little brother. I will contact you when I get there.” And the connection was broken. He sat back and closed his eyes with a sigh for a moment before he straightened up again and started to painstakingly remove any evidence of his presence from the system. That done, he walked towards the door of the office.

Before he could open it the corridor beyond was engulfed in orange flame and an invisible force slammed into him.

* * *

  
When he came to, all was dark around him. The room was relatively intact, thanks to the blast proof door that probably saved his life. It was a good thing he had decided to use Q’s office tonight for his mission with Sherlock. He tried to remember who was all in the building tonight. Blast the complete Q-branch management was here. Q was running the department downstairs while R and the rest of the department heads were in a meeting on the top floor, in the direction of the source of the blast. If they hadn’t made it, it meant Q could probably use help right now.

The door was cold to the touch so he cautiously opened it and stepped into the blackened corridor. Debris littered the floor along with a few badly burned bodies. The one in front of the door had remnants of a white lab coat smouldering among the patches of charred flesh. There were still enough recognisable features for him to make an identification. Q. The blast had killed him instantly, he knew, he had learned enough from Sherlock about how explosions worked to know that.

He hurried towards the back staircase and ran down to the R&D department.

When he opened the door the room beyond was completely intact but it had descended into utter chaos. People were running around trying to secure experiments, data and weapons, while others were unsuccessfully trying to get in touch with other parts of the building. He knew this could not continue. Someone had to take charge. He hesitated for a second.

Because he hadn’t started working for MI6 to take control of it. His desire for anonymity was one of the reasons no one knew his name, the reason why he had started at the bottom of the food chain. He’d gone to MI6 because he loved hacking computers and here, he could do it legally and out of Mycroft’s reach. It was just a hobby really. But if he didn’t step in now, he wasn’t sure he liked what he’d become. Because these were his colleagues he could help, even though he only knew them in passing. Because his country was in danger and he could make it safer. Because he was a Holmes and with that name came responsibilities. And it was time for him own up to it.

He sighed as he made the decision that would change the rest of his life and slipped into the Holmes’ stance and projection that had been trained into him since childhood. It made him look powerful and in control. It also made him look like Mycroft. He let out a piercing whistle, the one he knew irritated his brothers enormously because they couldn’t emulate it, and the whole room stopped and looked at him. He quietly relayed his orders.

“We are activating safety protocol Alpha and are officially on war footing. Retreat to your back-up locations with whatever you’re required to bring. Anyone injured is to take nothing and make for the main entrance, the rest of you will use the tunnels and emergency exits. Take only portable stable prototypes, all others are to be put in the blast chambers with the rest of the explosives. Make sure all agents in contact either go dark or retreat to secure locations. We go dark in 5 minutes. Expect function in the back-up locations to recommence in two hours.”

The room came into motion again but the chaos lessened as people did what needed to be done. He stood there for a moment before he realized he didn’t really know what he needed to do now. The evacuation procedures for employees were quite straight forward. However now he was management personified. He needed to do this right.

The evac procedural guides were kept in a filing cabinet outside of Q’s office with the other procedural guides. The dusty cabinet was a never used eyesore and many considered it a waste of space but it was something every office was required to have. Right now, it was a godsent. He found the right folder and leafed through it, scanned the checklist at the end and got to work. He found a secure briefcase in storage and gathered all hard drives and codes he was required to bring. Once done, he scanned the room. Almost everyone had left already. The last of the explosive’s experts were waiting for his orders. Seeing as that everyone was ready, he nodded to the experts and watched as they flipped the switch, which caused a low rumble to go through the room. He was the last to go out the door that led to the escape tunnel and as he did, he flipped an inconspicuous switch at the foot of the door, the room beyond and the rest of the building lighting up blue as a thousand volt of electricity flooded the systems, destroying anything remaining.

* * *

  
He emerged out of the drainage system in a park some distance from the building. The streets were eerily quiet for it being the middle of the day so apparently, he was in some sort of evacuated zone. He could hear the alarms of many police cars, ambulances and fire trucks from the direction of his former office building. With a sigh he pulled out his phone.

_Brother, please leave a message on your earliest convenience. MH_

He sighed again. Thinking about where to go. He knew he could easily go to Mycroft’s house but he didn’t need his majesty to stick his nose into the affairs of MI6. Especially since it was Mycroft that behind the scenes had been leading the move to make MI6 merge with MI5, despite his objections. And while he now was the management of Q-branch, he had none of the access codes of the senior bunker.

Home wasn’t an option either, he knew, which left one place. Luckily it only was an hour’s walk away.

Spotting a nearby crossing with CCTV he started walking in the direction of Baker street, discretely passing through three consecutive cameras’ leading in that direction before ducking into an alleyway. He kept walking, now actively avoiding any cameras.

_Its empty, doors open to your phone only and perimeter guards are stationed. MH_

‘Thank you, brother.’ He thought. ‘Now I only have to disable the millions of bugs you have littered the flat with.’

After an uneventful walk he slipped in through the back door of 221a and made his way to the first floor, scanning with his phone as he went. Surprisingly he only found one camera, pointed down through the staircase towards the front door. He gave it a small salute as he ascended and it blinked in return. He went through one of the doors on the landing and entered the living room, which had been cleaned and tidied but still screamed Sherlock. He gave it a thorough inspection but all bugs had been removed. Apparently, Mycroft had changed his mind about MI6. Deciding that he needed to make his new management position known, he pulled out his phone.

_No bugs, brother? I appreciate you letting me run my domain._

He started to set up his company laptop and equipment on the kitchen table, trying not to think about what had been done on its surface. He boiled the kettle after he found a clean mug and earl grey next to it. Not long after he’d settled, he received a reply.

_It’s official, Q. Ormond Greaves died in the explosion. Benedict Holmes is reclusive enough to keep. MH_

Oh dear, he’d better sent a quick message to Sherlock then, but before he could start typing, he received one.

_I hear you died, brother. Try not to haunt my flat for too long. Sorry about missing your funeral. SH_

He couldn’t resist replying

_Don’t worry about it. I missed yours too. Q_

_Will contact you in a week. SH_

Good, that was one less thing to worry about. His setup complete it was time to get to work. With ease, he broke into the computers in the safety bunkers of the different sites, something he was going to have to work on when there was time. He put his headset on and initiated the conference call.

“Good evening everyone, my name is Q. Let’s get started.”


	2. Bunkering Down.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Q-branch and the rest of MI6 settle into the Churchill bunkers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow, so many people read the last chapter. Brilliant. Thank you everyone who sent those kudos and especially Dart and MyArmadaIsGrowing for their wonderful comments.
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy this one too.

The Quartermasters position at MI6 had always been prestigious, but its importance had increased over the years. Those that had personally worked with Boothroyd and his successor, often only saw the glorified gadget providers that they were. But as attacks on the agency became more and more digital instead of physical, Q had become largely responsible for the safety of the agency. Boothroyd had seen quite quickly that he, though he was a fantastic engineer, wasn’t much of a programmer and had left those responsibilities to others. It had set the unfortunate trend of IT department becoming less and less important over the years instead of more so. The consequences had been explosive.

Now though the safety of the agency had fallen into the hands of a young, to most unknown, programmer who, though he wasn’t much of an engineer, was a bit of a computer genius. During the 72 hours he spent in 221B Baker Street Q had quickly pulled together all the computer nerds that had occupied the dark corners of Q-branch and had worked continuously with them to keep MI6 safe from one cyber attack after another, while at the same time building the most elaborate Firewalls anyone had ever seen. The nerds, unused to the guidance that they were given now, had flourished under the attention they were receiving and had quickly become the most loyal workers MI6 had ever seen. They had worked until they literally dropped and were at it again as soon as they regained consciousness.

The engineers hadn’t been sitting still while all this was going on. Besides, pouring the computer nerds onto cots and providing them with sustenance, they had started to set up shop in the old Churchill bunkers that had been their back up location. Runners had been sent out for everything from building materials, to electronics, to weapons and explosives. Q had only encouraged them by approving their designs for everything ranging from offices, a shooting range and blast room to a palmprint scanner for handguns.

During those hours of continuous exhausting work, Benedict Ormond Holmes had mentally become Q and he took the duty of safety that he had been charged with very seriously. He had vowed to himself he would do everything he could to protect and support all those who dedicated their energy to keep this country safe, office workers and agents alike. Mycroft would scoff at the emotional attachment he was quickly developing for everything MI6.

Their hard work paid off when Tanner had walked into the bunker after two days, took one wide eyed look around and got onto his phone. That same day it was decided that all off MI6 would move into the bunker.

* * *

It was time to move. After 72 hours of stopping for nothing but tea, toast and toilet Q desperately needed a shower and some clothes. Luckily, like Sherlock, he had inherited most of mummy’s features. They had the same slim build and he wasn’t much shorter than his brother so most of the clothes would fit him. He rummaged through the wardrobe and quickly found a couple of shirts, trousers, some never worn pants and a suit jacket that fit him reasonably well. Figuring he wouldn't be able to go home for a while he started digging through the wardrobe for a bag. Stuffed in the back of the wardrobe he found a beige jumper with a double zipper. It was hideous, obviously something Sherlock had stolen from Dr Watson, and Q loved it. It disappeared in the bag with the other clothes he stole. A quick shower and some more toast and he was on his way.

He got picked up at Oxford Circus tube station by a standard black MI6 SUV driven by an agent who introduced herself as Eve Moneypenny. The young woman was talkative and told him she was on desk duty after a mission gone wrong. She hoped she would be cleared to go back into the field soon. Q listened to her ramblings without really responding to her. Luckily the drive wasn’t long.

They drove into the underground parking facilities and she guided him through a guarded door into the bunker he had helped redecorate but hadn’t seen yet. After a short walk through a tunnel that gave him at least 20 ideas for safety features, they stepped onto a balcony overlooking a large room crawling with activity. Desks were being set up and occupied the moment they were functional. Lights and ducts had been hung from the ceiling. In the back of the room offices had been constructed by suspending floors and glass partitions between the two-story high arches. The noise resembled that of a beehive in full agitation.

People looked up when he walked down the steps onto the floor. He nodded to them and they greeted him in return before going back to work. Looking around, he felt awe at what his people had accomplished in just three days. At the same time, he felt slightly overwhelmed by all the hustle and bustle going on around him. Mentally he started a to do list of people he needed to find and talk to when they were approached by a man he recognised, though he hadn’t met him yet. Bill Tanner, the chief of staff.

“Q. Good to meet you. M wants to see you.” He said succinctly. Oh Christ, politics. Q hated politics with a passion. Having grown up in the footsteps of Mycroft bloody Holmes he knew how to play the game well enough, but absolutely hated the roundabout way all politicians seemed to conduct their business. He was a doer, not a talker. And he had absolutely no desire to get dragged into the pissing match between Olivia Mansfield and Mycroft Homes. Those two didn’t see eye to eye at all and M was surprisingly good at keeping Mycroft out of her business, the reason Mycroft wanted the merger in the first place.

Q wondered about the timing though. He’d only just arrived and he knew the building was far from secure at the moment. M was a smart woman, why would she disrupt his work when it was this important. This however was a matter for another time. He sighed. He had a job to do. And his job did not involve meeting with M at the moment.

“And she will. As soon as I have things secure here, I will be available to her. Now though, I have an agency to get up and running. Excuse me.” He answered just as succinctly and stalked off to find the IT-department, leaving behind a surprised and affronted chief of staff.

* * *

The IT department was relatively quiet. There were only a few people at work there and Q gestured at them to carry on as soon as they looked up. He looked around. The engineers had gone through great lengths to make sure this was finished as quickly as possible. He really had to thank them for it. Desks lined both sides of the room, with screens lining the walls so others could look on without crowding and harassing his team. Up front a single standing desk was set up for him with a ginormous screen for him, several smaller ones connected to what his workers were doing so he could keep an eye on them all. Q was touched. He hadn’t asked for any of this, but it certainly would come in handy. 

“We asked your team for input. Do you like it?” He heard behind him. A woman he remembered seeing in the former Q’s company plenty of times, some science-prodigy the old man had recruited out of a University lab before other tech companies could pounce if he remembered correctly, walked up to him.

“It looks perfect. You guys did a good job with it all. I’m very impressed and pleased with all you have accomplished.” He answered as he turned to her.

“Thank you, we did our part as your people did yours. Q, R” She said as she held out her hand. The no nonsense approach put him at ease right away. Even though the woman was about 10 years his senior it seemed that she wouldn’t hold it against him. And her skill set complemented his very well. It was an excellent choice for his second in command.

“Good to meet you. Whoever chose you to work with me choose well.” He replied while he shook her hand.

“M isn’t happy with you being Q.” She said seriously with an undercurrent of curiosity. “She asked me to keep an eye on you.” Q wanted to role his eyes but didn’t want to come across as unprofessional. Off course she did. He hadn’t even met the woman yet and already M was seriously getting on his nerves. But if he read the situation right R wasn’t amused either.

“I bet she did.” He told her with a calm he wasn’t feeling. “But I have no intention of working against her. Nor do I have any intention to let her run roughshod over this department. My only priority is the safety of this agency and its agents and I will do what must be done in order to achieve that. I hope we are in agreement on that. Should I ever do otherwise I expect you to shoot me, just as I will not hesitate to do the same to you should you be discovered.”

Q waited with baited breath how R would respond to this. Because he’d basically just threatened her and most people didn’t respond well to that. But this was MI6. If you couldn’t stand being threatened you had a problem. The double-0’s weren’t exactly known for their calm nature. Her face slacked to neutral and she seemed to be going over his words carefully. Finally, a smile blossomed on her face and she held out her hand again.

“Good. It’ll be interesting working with you, Q. Our interests and fields of expertise complement each other well. I think we’ll make quite the team.”

“I think we’ll get along fine.” He replied with a small smile as he shook her hand. “Now, let’s get up and running and then I’ll go play politics with M. She already requested a meeting but she’ll have to wait until we’re secure here. I will not endanger us just to get into a pissing match with her.”

R laughed at that. “Definitely won’t be bored working with you, will I? Let’s get started.” 


	3. Here there be dragons.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The confrontation between M and Q.

Q found R a pleasure to work with. They had the same hands-off just-get-it-done attitude and she managed the engineers very well. Friendly, helpful but taking no nonsense. They set up security around the bunker first. All entrances were camera protected and booby-trapped, with R adding some ideas that were deviously brilliant. If she wasn’t already married and his second in command Q would definitely make a move on the evil genius.

After three hours of hard work they were finally secure enough that he felt he could safely leave Q-branch to its own devices. He called Tanner, who told him to come up right away. Moneypenny came to collect him and together they walked towards M’s office, the woman keeping up a one-sided conversation about the new building. As they entered the final corridor, Tanner and a man stepped out of M’s office into the dimly lit hallways. He appeared a bit too scruffy for coming out of a meeting with M. When they passed him, Q felt his eyes widen slightly.

“Was that Bond?” He asked surprised.

“Apparently he decided to stop playing dead and broke into M’s house yesterday to talk to her. He’s taking his proficiency tests today.” Moneypenny seemed a bit flustered as she talked about him.

“Colour me impressed.” He replied. Last rumours he’d heard about the man said he’d found the love of his life and was going around the world playing happy ever after, but that was years ago. He never really kept up with the rumours floating around the building. He was curious though, why the man had decided to show up now? Patriotism aside, because though that was the direct cause, it wasn’t a strong enough motivator for a man such as 007 to leave the love of his life. Was the love gone or did he miss the war? Judging from the rugged look, probably both.

Now wasn’t the time to worry about that though as they had reached their destination. An airlock led to an outer office which was empty except for a desk with a computer and phone. Moneypenny walked around the desk and picked up the phone.

“The Quartermaster for you, Ma’am.” She said and after listening to the reply, she rang off, walked around the desk and opened the door for him. He walked in ahead of her.

“Leave us.” He heard a cold woman’s voice say and the door was closed behind him.

Apparently, M had claimed one of the offices created by partitioning off the vaulted ceiling. The windows overlooked the desk farm below which now resembled more of an ant farm then an angry bee hive. The main room now occupied most of the administrative desks needed to run an organisation the size of MI6. The engineers had commandeered some of the more secure areas for themselves and were currently setting up their labs. Though they had originally picked the main room to turn into a ginormous lab, the influx of so many people had made the shyer boffins decidedly uncomfortable. Hopefully the socially awkward but brilliant brains would settle more once they were just among themselves again.

M wasn’t alone. She was sitting behind the desk. In one of the two chairs across from her sat the head of the intelligence and security committee, Gareth Mallory.

“Mr. Holmes.” She said as he approached the desk. He raised one eyebrow. She knew his name. She hadn’t known his name before. This was a major concession Mycroft had done. By ousting him, Mycroft had given up a major playing card that could be used against him. Judging from the look on her face however, M didn’t seem to be appreciating the gift she had been given here. She thought this move was political. Him one of Mycroft’s tools to keep her in check. ‘Well then’, Q thought, ‘let’s deter her from that notion.’ He straightened, folded his arms behind his back in a very Mycroft move, a bored expression on his face while his eyes burned sharply.

“Miss Mansfield. Mr. Mallory” He said soft and dangerously and he almost saw her flinch and boil in anger at the same time. He glided forward and sat in the other seat without her invite. ‘Her eye actually twitched at that’, he thought, laughing inside while his expression didn’t change.

“Can you explain, Mr. Holmes, why I come back to work after three days to find that my agency has basically been run by one man. And then I learn that this man is a Holmes. One that had been working for this agency for five years under an assumed name.” It looked like she had a tick. Q saw her eye twitch minutely every time she said the word Holmes. Mycroft must really like poking at the woman with a stick if this was the reaction it got. No wonder she hated him so. Q found couldn’t help himself, he just had to rile her up a little more.

“Don’t ask stupid questions, Miss Mansfield. You know very well this is what happens when your entire management dies in an explosion. Or did you expect me to stand by while Q-branch dissolved into a bunch of headless chickens?”

“I didn’t expect you to be there at all because I don’t recall having anyone named Holmes working in my agency. So, the question still remains. Why have you been working in MI6 for five years under an assumed name?”

“Because if I wanted to be in a management position I could’ve easily worked with Mycroft. And nothing short would’ve done and you know it. I came here to work with computers not people.”

“And yet here you are. Head of Q-branch by your brother’s appointment.” Q repressed the urge to roll his eyes. This was why he hated politics. Paranoid bastards the lot of them. It was all about the power, not about the people you help or the country you protect.

“And I’ll ask again. Did you expect me to stand by while Q-branch dissolved into a bunch of headless chickens? What kind of Holmes do you take me for?”

“You took over my agency, Mr Holmes.” M lost her cool and thundered.

“And you’ll find that these past two days your agency hasn’t been safer, Miss Mansfield. Your agency has withstood 23 separate cyber-attacks in the last 72 hours. Not one of them has been instigated by my brother I can assure you.” He answered her calmly.

“Your brother doesn’t need to hack our agency. He has you.” She said, disgust dripping from her voice.

“You are not very familiar with Holmes’, are you, Miss Mansfield?” He replied dangerously. “For all you hate us, you don’t know us at all. That much is fairly obvious. We, as a general rule, don’t play in each other’s field. Since I took control of Q-Branch my brother has backed off. He even gave you my name as a sign of this. The merger plans are off the table. The only reason it is still talked about is because the hearing was already planned. You will be expected to give a good show, but your position is no longer in Jeopardy. Am I right, Mr. Mallory?”

It was a bit of a gamble, because Q hadn’t spoken to Mycroft at all, since he started working three days ago. But Q knew Mycroft, knew his brother trusted him to keep an eye on MI6. Not to pass on information, but to make sure the agency stayed true to its course.

The other man nodded. At first glance anyone else might’ve thought Mallory was cowed into silence by the clashing titans before him. But Q saw the relaxed posture and tiny smile at the man’s lips. He was sitting back and enjoying the show, clearly used to a Holmes throwing his weight around. Q wondered why M was tolerating the man in her office. Maybe it wasn’t clear to her that Mallory was one of Mycroft’s men.

Q sat back and relaxed minutely under the man’s gaze. Only those who were used to reading minute changes in body language would be able to pick up. Q was almost certain Mallory would be able to read the move and the meaning implicated. He seriously doubted Mansfield could.

“Politics aren’t my cup of tea, Miss Mansfield.” He continued. “That is my brother’s arena. Your arena. I have no desire to become a pawn the grudge match you have against my brother. My brother, by giving up my name so gracefully, has already made you a peace offer. He is rarely generous. I urge you to accept it.”

As he suspected a glance at Mallory confirmed the man had picked up his message. Mansfield though had completely missed it. It was time to drive his point home. He wasn’t going to ask Mansfield to work with him, he was going to demand it. He stood, the other two automatically rising with him, which he’d expected from Mallory but to see Mansfield realise how much power she’d just given him was once again making him see why Mycroft liked annoying her so much. Now though it was time to get serious. As he started talking his expression grew more and more serious, his voice more and more menacing.

“I am a Holmes. Safety is our primary concern, that includes the safety of my family. I have been charged with the security of this agency and its people and I take my duty very seriously. That means I protect this agency and every person connected with it, even you, from every threat possible, even you. Therefor I’m going to give you a warning. Try to endanger this agency again by trying to divide my team and I will punish you. Utter my former name again and I will destroy you. My brother might be able to start wars but I can stop traffic, both real life and electronic. Do I make myself clear?”

It was quiet for a while as M digested the lecture she just had. Q hoped she was as smart as he had given her credit for in the past. He didn’t want to have to get nasty on his first day in the office. That was always so undignified. Luckily it seemed she was getting all the very good points he made because the thunder in her face suddenly seemed to ease and she held out her hand.

“A pleasure to be working with you, Q.” She said pleasantly and professionally.

“The pleasure will be mine I assure you.” He said as he shook it.

“What’s the status of Q-branch?” M asked. The switch was abrupt. Gone was the vengeful harpy and in its place was the professional. One he had no problems working with.

“Security is up and running. Our network is secure. The IT-department is settled and the engineers are setting up their labs under the guidance of R. May I commend you on her selection by the way. She is a pleasure to work with. I feel safe to leave Q-branch into her capable hands for the 36 hours I need to recover as I haven’t slept since before the bombing.” Eyebrows went up at that statement as they usually did. It always annoyed him a little. It wasn’t like this was the first time he’d done it. And he only landed in hospital once. He knew his limits.

M’s phone ringing interrupted him before he could explain further. M answered.

“Send her in.” She replied after listening for a while.

The door opened and in stepped April, as Mycroft’s assistant was called at the moment.

“I’m here to escort the Quartermaster home for some rest, Ma’am.”

Q rolled his eyes at his big brother’s over protective tendencies.

“I can rest here perfectly fine, April.” April however did not budge.

“My orders stand, Sir. I was to retrieve you and take you home for rest.”

Q sighed in annoyance. He looked up at M and Mallory who were trying very hard not to laugh, though they hid it very well.

“You said your brother wouldn’t intervene, Q?” M asked, only half amused.

“Professionally. On a personal level there isn’t a bigger interfering git than Mycroft. My four-day time limit is up so I’m being put to bed like a stubborn child.” Mallory actually had the guts to snigger at this and Q felt the childish urge to stick his tongue at him. He crossed his arms and looked at April, ready to protest for his need to remain here. M however beat him to it.

“It sounds like a wise course of action. I have doubts he’ll receive an undisturbed rest here. He’s all yours, April. I expect him back here in 36 hours.” Q was flabbergasted. M siding with Mycroft. That wasn’t even funny. She was supposed to be in his corner.

“What… M!?!” He exclaimed.

“Thank you, Ma’am.” April replied calmly. “Sir?” She asked and gestured for the door.

“I have to talk to R first.” He protested weakly.

“I’ll have Tanner inform her of where you’ve gone. He’ll help her with whatever she needs. You’re going now, Quartermaster, that is an order.” M turned stern at the end and sounded almost exactly like mummy had in the past. It seemed he’d lost this round.

“Yes Ma’am.” He said with a mock salute. Which drew another chuckle out of Mallory. He heaved another sigh and asked April with a tendril of hope.

“I don’t suppose home actually meant my house?”

“Off course not, sir.” April answered dryly.

“No, I figured.” He sighed and nodded his farewell to the other two in the room. “M, Mallory.” Before turning and leaving the room head held high.


	4. Breakfast at Mycroft's

He woke with a groan which immediately turned into a bigger one when he remembered where he was. Mycroft’s house. Where he didn’t want to be. He hadn’t seen his brother yet and a childish part of himself wanted to sneak out right away. Q looked around. He was in one of the guest rooms judging from the size. The furniture was opulent and antique though there was very little of it. Just a desk with chair and a wardrobe beside the fourposter bed he was lying in.

He was surprised his clothes were on the desk chair and the bag he kept the extra clothes in that he’d taken from Sherlock was on the desk. Clearly his clothes weren’t kept hostage this time. Q actually felt worse now about his urge to sneak out. His brother trusted him enough not to. Or maybe expected him to but wouldn’t stop him. On closer inspection though Q noticed his phone was missing which made him groan all over again.

With a sigh he looked at the clock, saw it was time for breakfast and got out of bed. He picked up the bag and sorted through the clothes in there. It seemed Mycroft had added to it. There was some more new underwear, an assortment of neckties that matched the clothes, some of his favorite toiletries and a couple of towels. In the bottom of the bag the beige jumper was carefully folded. A note was pinned on it.

_This is hideous, please get rid of it. MH_

Feeling a little vindictive, Q fished it out of the bag straight away. After a quick shower, he walked into the kitchen for a quick meal only to find Mycroft there sitting at the kitchen table which was set for two reading a newspaper. His phone was lying beside his plate. His brother looked up and winced when he spotted the jumper.

“Must you wear that thing?” He pleaded, as if the very sight of it offended him, even as he focused his attention back on the paper.

“Yes, I most definitely must.” Q answered with shit eating grin on his face as he looked up from his phone. Mycroft met his eyes.

“I know you were raised with a fashion sense, Benedict. Please, use it when in my company.” Q laughed. It was just too much fun to rile his brother up and his sense of propriety, even in situations where it wasn’t needed, was the perfect way to do it.

“Well, you assumed I wasn’t old enough to know how to take care of myself. I thought I’d prove you right.” This time Q gave in to his childish urges and actually poked his tongue out to his brother who’s face pulled into such a grimace that Q burst out laughing again.

“Must you be so childish?”

“Yes, I truly must. I have to get it out of my system now or I’ll be annoying M later. She is so much fun to rile up.” Mycroft tried very hard not to betray his amusement, but Q could see his brother trying very hard not to laugh. He put down his phone and turned his attention to the food Mycroft had on the table. There was toast and 4 different types of jam, coffee and tea. No special diet then. “Almost as much fun as you are, big brother.” He continued. “It’s a shame there is no video evidence of it. But at least Mallory enjoyed himself a great deal.” Then he got a bit more serious. “But really, your move to sent April to collect me has put me at a disadvantage with her. I’m not a bit pleased about that.” He fixed himself 2 pieces of toast and ate it with one hand while he picked up his phone and texting Sherlock about the state of Mycroft’s diet. He heard Mycroft close the newspaper.

“Apologies.” He heard Mycroft offer grudgingly. “I thought it best to give you an excuse to leave. You know your rest needs to be undisturbed when you recover from such a long period. I feared you would be disturbed and end up in hospital. I have no desire to repeat that experience.”

“That has only happened once and that was before we knew five days was too much. It hasn’t happened since.” Q grouched back not wanting to admit that Mycroft did have a point.

“Still I’d prefer it, if you go home to rest. I worry about you as you know.” Mycroft pushed on.

“Until Sherlock returns and then you get to worry about him again. But I promise the next time I’ll go home to rest, just so you can stop worrying.” Q conceded.

“Thank you.” Q’s phone dinged. He picked it up and looked. R sent a text telling him they had a meeting with Tanner as soon as he got in. He acknowledged it before returning to his food. Mycroft had picked up the paper again.

“Anything I should know about MI6?” He asked between two bites, just to see Mycroft cringe with annoyance for his lack of manners.

“I have irritatingly little information about Mansfield and the way she runs things. But nothing untoward has been noted or I would have had cause to remove her. Do let me know if you do find anything.” Mycroft offered absentmindedly.

“Hmmm.” He answered. He finished eating he toast and got up from the table. Mycroft looked up from the paper again as he started to walk out of the kitchen.

“Have you thought about what to do with the company?” Q froze. Darn it, that was something he hadn’t considered yet. He’d been so busy with what used to be his hobby and was now a serious investment of time and energy, he’d forgotten he actually had a job. One he didn’t like but was important.

The Holmes family wasn’t a well-known family but it certainly wasn’t a poor one. The Holmes Family Investment Firm had been the family’s money maker for generations. All family members, which at this point in time meant only him, his parents and brothers, had shares that they inherited when they were 18. It generated a steady income. When he first came into his inheritance, Ben had used the income his share provided to invest privately into a venture, just to see if business was something, he was interested in. It was an idea for a private security company that provided a unique security system tailored to individual needs. As it turned out business, though exceedingly boring, was something Ben was very good at. The security company had done well, in fact most MI6 agents, all of whom paranoid bastards, had hired them. It had made Ben a lot of money, which had led to the birth of the Ormond Investment Company. When Mummy decided to retire as head of the main firm, father had let her run it after he found he had no eye for business, Q had taken over.

But the more time he invested in the running of the companies, the more bored he became. And as most of London probably knew by now, a bored Holmes is a dangerous thing to have. To keep himself entertained Ben had turned to his passion, computers. He had started to delegate tasks to others, hiring people to take over most of the day to day running of the companies. He had gotten to the point that he only needed to attend two board meetings a week, both planned back to back on Thursday morning.

“I’d like to keep doing it if at all possible. It’s not like we can ask mummy to come out of retirement, you’re not eligible with your position and even if we could force him to do it, Sherlock is out of the country. It’s only the Thursday mornings that I have to be concerned about now anyway. I’m having a meeting with R and Tanner this morning about filling the other management positions, I’ll decide then.”

“Let me know. There’s a car waiting. You’d better go or you’ll be late.” Q looked at his phone for the time, cursed and was out the door with a wave of his hand.


	5. Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had great fun with this chapter. I wanted to do my own version of the meeting between Q and Bond in the National Gallery. I hope I did it justice. 
> 
> DISCLAIMER: Several lines used in this chapter are direct quotes from Skyfall, though some used differently. Those lines are obviously not mine.   
> Sherlock and the rest of the Bond films, aren't mine either off course.

“Good morning. How’s it going over here?” He greeted R and Tanner as he found them in the office they had chosen for this meeting. It was on the ground floor in the main room, right across the entrance tunnel leading to the underground exit.

“All is secure.” R started the briefing. “The IT department is pleased to see the firewalls are holding. There have been a couple of attempts to breach them but they’re diminishing. The forensic analysts however, are in an uproar. 007 had the great idea to cut bullet fragments out of his shoulder, march into the lab, find the mousiest lab assistant in the furthest darkest corner from the door and hand it over with the message for her eyes only. The whole lab is nervously looking over its shoulder now. And off course the rumours spread like wildfire so the rest of the branch are too.” R was on a roll, annoyance pitching her voice

“Great.” Q grouched back. “Why on earth did he think it was a good idea to dig them out himself. Idiot. If medical had delivered those fragments, we wouldn’t be having problems right now. Tanner, please inform M that no agent is allowed near Q-branch until things have settled down. If the agents have a problem, they can come to me and only me.”

“Or me when you’re not here. They don’t scare me.” He smiled. He really liked R. She wouldn’t take shit from anyone, not even the double-0’s.

“I’ll let her know.” Tanner replied.

“How did your meeting with her go?” R asked. Q smiled a predatory smile that was all teeth.

“We came to an understanding. I doubt she’ll bother you again.”

“Oh, good.” R’s reply sounded mostly relieved but also slightly nervous and curious.

“Don’t worry, both she and Mallory were alive when I left.” Q chuckled. “But let’s get down to business. Who do you feel would be a good member to our team, R?” Q asked, mentally crossing his fingers, hoping she’d seen someone he’d missed. He’d only been there three hours after all but from what he saw, most of the Q-branch employees left after the bombing were socially awkward geniuses. The sort that tinkered alone and didn’t like to talk to their own teammates, never mind the agents and M. They were great people, but not for management.

“To be honest, Q. I don’t know. I looked at them all and I’m not happy. Though most are good workers, none could really stand up to their own team, let alone double-0’s, not even talking about M. And the few that could, aren’t skilled enough. If I didn’t think we’d probably live here if we’d go down that route, I’d say we run it together.” Damn he hadn’t missed someone.

“Unfortunately, I agree. Which is why I hoped you’d have seen things I hadn’t. We need to do some serious recruiting to bring Q branch up to strength. I don’t trust our current bunch to outfit anyone, never mind running any missions. Are there even any handlers? How did Q do this in the past? Did he just give information, toys and toss them out into the field with no back-up?”

“Most of the agents are used to that.” R defended.

“But it’s inefficient. It’s not like we can’t develop a good enough earpiece with current technology to stay in contact. Almost all information is available online, let alone all the surveillance camera’s we can hack into. We can provide so much more to the agents. I think it would bring down the mortality rate considerably if we could provide them intel.”

“What are you suggesting?” Tanner asked.

“A team of two to every opp. One to draw up the information the other to guide the agent. I could do it alone but for others a team would be more efficient.” Tanner frowned in thought.

“I’m unsure the double-0’s will go for that. They tend to be more of the lone wolf variety.”

“I will personally guide the double-0’s should their missions require it. I won’t burden the others with their personality.” Q said seriously.

“I’ll do it when you’re not here, provided I have someone to run tech for me. I’m no slouch with a computer but I’m nowhere near that level.” R immediately backed him up.

“For junior agents, I think it would be a great idea.” Tanner continued as if he hadn’t heard them. “We lose quite a number of those because we couldn’t get information to and from them in time. I’ll bring it up with M. Back to your original problem though.”

“Personally, I wouldn’t mind the long hours. I’d rather work with that than with incompetence, I hate having to clean up. But that’s me, that’s not you.” Q suggested. R actually looked relieved.

“My husband works ridiculously long hours and I don’t like being home alone. How flexible is your schedule?” She asked.

“Thursday mornings are mine.” Q answered immediately, thinking about the other responsibilities Mycroft had reminded him of that morning. “The rest of the time I’m flexible and available. I’m not currently in a relationship so I can work around your schedule. I can and am used to working for four days straight if necessary but then I need at least 36 hours to recuperate.” Both R’s and Tanners eyes grew wide.

“So, you really hadn’t slept since before the bombing?” Asked Tanner. “M told me but I thought she’d been exaggerating. But then R asked around the branch and came to the conclusion that you hadn’t been off screen for more than 5 minutes. We didn’t know what to think.”

“It’s a habit I picked up in my teens. My limit is four days, any longer and I end up in a coma. My recovery after needs to be uninterrupted. I sleep, wake up once after about 24 hours to eat and sleep for another 10. Then I’m good to go again.”

“Wow.” R said as she wrapped her head around the Holmes habit of not sleeping during business. “Well, I can’t do that but I can last a long time on naps. We could claim that poky office near the IT department and convert it into a bunkroom. That way I could take some longer shifts as well.”

“Good idea, so we’re doing this?”

R looked at Tanner.

“If you’re both sure?” Tanner asked. Q looked at R who looked back and nodded. Q nodded too. “All right then you do this. However, we need to renegotiate your contracts because that wasn’t in the job description.”

“All right.” Q responded while R nodded. “Okay then this meeting is adjourned. Q, I have 007 who needs outfitting. He’s going to Shanghai, after the owner of that bullet he dug his shoulder.” Q rolled his eyes in exasperation while R sniggered.

“Then I need R for a moment longer as she knows what we have available. Shouldn’t take long. Have 007 meet me in the National Gallery this afternoon.”

* * *

It was M who’d suggested the painting. The woman had no sense of humour or enjoyed being downright cruel. Or maybe she wanted to give him ammunition to use against her agent. Q wasn’t using it though, that just wasn’t his style. Age already had enough centre stage in this encounter. The young ‘wet behind the ears’ Quartermaster and the tired old agent who didn’t pass eval. Q had an idea why M was giving 007 the go ahead anyway. If he was at all like Dr Watson, then his performance should improve with time and action. And with all the other double-0’s still out in the field, there really was no better option available in short notice.

Q knew he would get judged on his age and youthful appearance. Because although he was 29, his slender body type and features similar to Sherlock, made him look not even 25 and, if he dressed for it, he could pull of the teenager look very well. Not the best of first impressions. But he wasn’t planning on using his ‘inner Mycroft’ to gain the upper hand. While it would work on the double-0’s, scaring Q-branch into submission would greatly reduce their effectiveness and productivity. No, he would bear the ridicule with grace until he could prove himself. But prove himself he would. Not that that was difficult, he was a Holmes after all.

007 was already seated in front of the picture when he arrived. He walked up and sat beside the man who looked at him briefly and then completely ignored him. Strike one for the agent. The man didn’t even consider him able to be Quartermaster.

“I see.” He said quietly.

“See what?” The man replied.

“Her opinion of you or the jab at you maybe. If it was the first, I hope you plan on completely overshadowing her expectations.”

“And what is her opinion of me?”

“Grand old warship hauled away for scrap. I suppose she thought I’d make some sort of remark about it making me feel melancholy or the inevitability of time. She probably thought I needed ammunition. I feel a bit insulted really.” The snark in his voice brought a small laugh to the agent’s face.

“Well, you do still have your spots.” The agent replied with a slight tease in his voice. Q sighed dramatically as quietly as he could.

“I suppose youth is no guarantee of innovation.” He remarked.

“And age no guarantee for efficiency.” The agent shot back.

“Well, luckily, you can still pull a trigger and I can do a lot of damage sitting in my pyjama’s in front of my laptop before my first cup of earl grey. So, we can both prove her wrong.” He held out his hand.

“Q.” The agent greeted as he shook his hand.

“007.” He reached into his pocket and handed over the envelope.

“Ticket to Shanghai, documentation and passport.”

“Thank you.”

“And this.” He handed over the small box he brought. 007 opened it. “Walter PPKS 9MM Short. There’s a micro dermal sensor in the grip. It’s been coded to your palmprint so only you can fire it. Less of a random killing machine, more of a personal statement.” Bond nodded.

“And this?” he asked pointing to an empty square.

Q felt a bit sheepish when he handed it over. “Standard issue radio transmitter. Activate it and it broadcasts your location. Distress signal. And that’s it.”

“A gun and a radio. Not exactly Christmas is it.”

“I know you were hoping for an exploding pen this year, 007, but someone blew up the Christmas tree and the presents under it. Better luck next time.” He stood as if to walk towards the painting.

“Bloody big ship.” 007 commented as he rose too and Q sniggered.

“Happy hunting, Mr. Bond, and please bring your equipment back in one piece.” And after a final glance at the painting he strolled away.


	6. Round two.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock, as ever, doesn't do as he is told and M plays games

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a while to post. My mind has taken a turn with this story and it will add a couple of chapters that I have yet to completely write. So future updates will be slower too.

_Really? Jury duty? What part of please don’t pull the trick you did in India did you not understand? Q_

Q wanted to bang his head against the table. He’d been awoken at 8 in the morning, his first full night sleep in about a week, by his mobile exploding with alerts from the Sherlock fan forums he kept his eye on. A quick search told him Sherlock's boredom got the better of him again.

_Progress is slow. I’m BORED and a guilty man is going to get away with murder. SH_

_Getting impatient? You’ve only been in Hamburg for three weeks. Q_

_And I will be here for at least another month. Then Amsterdam and after that Paris. SH_

Q could almost see the sulk on Sherlock's face as he read that. His brother wanted to come home.

_I could get M to agree to take care of Amsterdam and Paris. Q_

_No. SH_

_Too dangerous. SH_

Q sighed, decided not to argue again and set about spreading a few more rumours on the forums, muddying the waters a bit. That done he sat back sipping his tea. He had offered Sherlock an out before off course, but he had always refused. They had had several pointless arguments about involving MI6 in the beginning. Sherlock was deathly afraid of someone being careless and exposing the fact that he was alive, putting his friends, especially Dr Watson, in danger. And it seemed he hadn’t changed his mind even when the task was almost done. He would endure his boredom and homesickness, barely, just to make sure he still had a friend to come home to. It was only a miracle that he was still clean. It was why he couldn’t begrudge his brother these escapades… much.

Q had been eighteen when he learned of Sherlock’s drug use. Mycroft had tried to keep it from him and Sherlock had severed contact completely. After a year of not hearing anything from Sherlock and Mycroft giving him the run around, Q had put his foot down and nagged Mycroft until he got to see his brother. He found him in rehab. Sherlock had thrown a fit, literally destroyed his room, because he hadn’t wanted for his little brother seeing him like that. Q however had persisted, visiting him when he was in rehab and stalking him with messages when he wasn’t. It took a long time for Sherlock to stop being embarrassed in his presence and trust him to help with his problems. In the end his brother had shown up at his doorstep, sick as a dog, after escaping his last rehab. He had refused to go back but hadn’t left to get high either, the promise of cases already enough of an incentive to really put an effort into it. He’d stayed for a few months, taking more and more cases until he’d met Mrs. Hudson and left for Florida. After Q had started work in MI6 and Sherlock had moved into 221B and their contact had shifted to texts and the occasional phone call, though it was no less cordial.

His phone dinged, dragging him out of his thoughts. Looking at it he saw a message from Tanner asking him to come in early for a meeting with M. He stared at it for a second, wondered what the dragon wanted and what kind of hoops he was going to have to jump through this time before giving up on the thought entirely. He would deal with whatever she wanted later. Sending back that he would be there in an hour, he went to take a shower and start his day.

* * *

“Good morning.” He greeted M as he entered her office. She was alone this time, reading some paperwork.

“Good morning.” She said gesturing to the seat in front of the desk as she put the paper down and focused on him. The skilled politician at work then. The gesture made sure he was here on her terms but the interrupting her work for him a sign of respect. He sat and visibly relaxed, careful not to show any sign of the posturing he had done in their previous meeting.

“I had an interesting debate with Tanner this morning.” She started. “He was trying to convince me we need to put leashes on our agents. He said it was an idea you came up with.” Q was confused for a moment. Because he was certain Tanner wouldn’t have brought it like that. What was M playing at?

“I doubt he misunderstood me that badly.” He said trying to get a better read of her.

“No doubt, explain your idea to me.” She continued on as if she was trying to understand his reasoning. He decided to humour her.

“Technology has improved a lot over the years. Cameras are everywhere, more and more information available online. We can provide a lot of information from here to the people out there in the field. A good earpiece, a handler that can provide information and a hacker to provide visuals and information to aid the handler. If it prevents one agent from walking into an ambush it’s worth it.” He saw her consider his words carefully before answering.

“An earpiece means a way that an agent can be traced back to us. It can also be hijacked, our conversations tapped.” Those were actually legitimate concerns, seeing as she didn’t know him very well, she could hardly be expected to know what he could and couldn’t do.

“I’m very good at what I do and so is R. Together, I know we can develop a safe enough earpiece. If it isn’t safe enough our agents will not go out with it. The safety of the agents and the agency is our primary concern in this.” M listened to his reasoning and then took a while to think, not one emotion displayed on her face. Q admired her control.

“I will consider it.” She said eventually. “Develop the earpiece. If it’s as good as you say it will be, you can start testing it.”

“No.” Q answered resolutely. He wasn’t going to invest into this without some concessions on M’s part. Because this wasn’t about the development of a simple piece of tech, this meant a whole new way of working for his department and the agents. It required people he didn’t have. But Q wasn’t about to spell things out to M. That wasn’t the game they were playing now and Q was good at playing the obstruction game. He would get what he needed before he would invest into this project.

“Why?” She asked.

“There’s no point.” He answered.

“Explain.” She asked again, again he gave in.

“There’s no point to develop the earpiece as I have no able handlers or hackers to guide the agents. I’m sure Tanner has talked about our personnel issues.”

“He has, he didn’t sound like it was dire.” Now M sounded just plain nonchalant. This was beginning to become ridiculous. Q knew he was falling into a trap. But he decided he didn’t care. She was trying to get a rise out of him, a rise she was going to get.

“Not dire? I’m sure he shared that R and I decided to run the department together. Do you truly think we would choose to do that if there were others we could trust with the job? As it is, I’ve clocked about a hundred hours on duty this week alone. And when we go through with the handlers that means Q branch will be in full operation 24/7. We need to dramatically expand our team, not only to prepare for this but also to prepare for the future. If something were to happen to me, R or god forbid both of us, I can assure you Q-branch will not be prepared. I have already told you I had to stop them from descending into a bunch of headless chickens during the explosion. You knew the personnel situation in Q-branch was precarious before Tanner brought it up. You’re being deliberately obtuse to get a rise out of me. Now you’ve succeeded can we kindly get to the point. Namely the recruitment of the people we desperately need.” Once more silence fell, M’s not betraying anything. And mentally Q congratulated her. She was good at these games. The Ice Queen was better than the Ice Man even. No wonder Mycroft had such problems with her.

“Explain to me what you need.” She said.

“We need technicians and IT specialists with the mental disposition to lead. They don’t need to have experience in leadership roles. In fact, it would be better if they didn’t because then they can start at the same level as their colleagues and we can train them up ourselves. We also need hackers, to hack into the information we need on the fly. Black hats would be better as they have more experience. We need handlers, preferably former agents who can be steady under pressure and know what an agent needs when.”

“You think black hat hackers will talk to us?”

“They will talk to me.” Q knew they would, he had been part of that community for a while after all. In the few months before he started work at MI6, he’d build up quite a reputation. There was still talk of him, even though his hacker ID GHOST had been silent for years now.

“If you say so.” She scoffed. “All right. You can start recruiting. I will vet and interview them all before they’re hired.”

“I would expect no less. Was there something else you wanted to discuss?”

“Yes actually. We have received word from 003. He’s on a mission in Jakarta on an information gathering mission in a financing firm with suspected terrorist connections. He has received a dongle we sent him and is in position to use it tonight. The dongle is designed to worm its way into any system it’s attached to. The one who designed it, Ormond Greaves, died in the explosion but the blueprints are still in the system. I want you to break into the system and get the information tonight. Time is short as the mission has already gone on far longer than originally anticipated.” Q remembered the standard dongle he had reprogrammed with malware that would get him into most computer systems. He’d turned the thing over to Q a week before the explosion, not considering they were actually going to use it.

“That shouldn’t be a problem.” He answered hesitantly, mentally going over his to do list for today. It was doable, as long as R was there to take on the other matters while he was working on this there wouldn’t be a problem.

“His shift starts around 10pm, which is 5 pm here.” M reached towards the papers she had on her desk.

“Plenty of time for me to look up the design. I’ll get right on it” He said and started to get up, his mind already in the software he would need to install to connect with the dongle.

“Oh, and Q?” M asked.

“Hmmm?” He turned from his track to the door.

“Seeing as you and R are invaluable in keeping Q-branch going I’m sure you understand you need protection when not in MI6. From now on a double-0 will escort you whenever you leave the building. 006 has the honour for the foreseeable future. When he leaves on assignment another will be assigned to you.” She stated leaving no room for argument. Q mentally felt his jaw drop. He turned to face her.

“Is that what this was about? You thought I wouldn’t accept a protection detail?” He said as he finally understood what all the obstruction in the conversation was meant to do. She wanted him to admit his value to MI6 after which it would be difficult to argue that he wasn’t important enough to need protection.

“Most people are against them.” She said simply though he could finally hear emotion in her voice, a slight confusion about why he was not being difficult about this.

“As you well know I’m not most people. I have no problem with a protection detail in general. I’m very security conscious, with my family I have to be. However, my home is already under very tight security, better than you can arrange, and I will be highly displeased if you interfere with it.”

“Your commute…” She started.

“Will be secured in other ways. I will accept a double-0 escort when I’m out during working hours, I will run the rest of my security past Mycroft. Are those acceptable terms? I can assure you Mycroft is very aware of my need for security. You can check with him if the security is up to par.”

“That is acceptable.” She conceded.

“Good, then I will see it arranged. Next time though, just ask. I’m not an unreasonable person and I truly hate these games.”

“Hmmm.” Was M’s only answer and her gaze was already back on her papers. Q sighed and left her to it, knowing the games were far from over.


	7. Dragon breath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> M's political games are starting to get under Q's skin.

_M is being obstructive. It’s annoying. Q_

_She put a double-0 on me for protection. Q_

Q sent to Mycroft irritably as walked through Q-branch in search of R. He found her in the labs talking to one of the lab technicians. She looked tired, like she hadn’t been able to catch much sleep during her shift.

“Q.” She said as he approached. “You look frustrated.”

“And you look tired.” He shot back. “Long night?”

“Long night.” She acknowledged. “Nothing major. Just having some issues.”

“Ah shall we go over them now or are there more pressing matter that need attending?” He asked knowing that he also needed to discuss his talk with M with her. He didn’t like the way it had gone but the commitments he got out of her needed to be discussed. They needed to start recruiting as soon as possible and the plans for the earpiece also needed to be drawn up.

“Not at the moment though I need to be present here for the moment.” She said and she led him to an empty desk. His phone dinged and he saw a reply from Mycroft.

_Good. MH_

_Not good. They wanted door to door. You’re in charge of my security outside office hours now. Apparently, I’m not trusted to do it myself. Q_

“Okay, what’s going on? Why do you look like someone shat in your coffee this morning?” She asked.

“M being M I suppose.” He replied, shrugging it off and getting down to business. “Don’t worry about it too much. I still got good news. We got the green light to start recruiting and to start developing the earpiece.”

“Good, I’ve already started on the design.” At his raised eyebrow. “It was a frustrating night. We’re having issues with the environmental controls in the labs. The moisture levels are difficult to control because of the age of the structure and the airflow through the building also fluctuates regularly. Had a hell of a time figuring out where that was coming from but finally found that one of the airducts was actually connected to the subway below us. Every time a train runs by, air gets pushed into the building and sucked out once it’s passed. It was an ingenious piece of engineering from the second world war as the subway functioned as a lung for these tunnels but it’s messing up the test results that require controlled conditions. Equipment had to be constantly recalibrated to get accurate results. Which meant I had to be here to step in when needed. Hence no sleep and time to design the earpiece. It’s not finished yet but the designs won’t take me long. Luckily Iris came in.” She gestured to the lab technician she had been talking to. “She can calibrate machines as quickly as I can so she can take over in a bit.”

“Good because I have need of you from about five this afternoon. I have a mission with 003. He’s plugging in a dongle with malware that will give me access to information we need.”

His phoned dinged again.

_Call April to pick you up when done. MH_

Q grumbled, putting his phone away, not bothering to reply.

“Alright.” R replied. “I’ll leave as soon as we’re done to catch some rest. But we also need to look over the building schematics again. We need to allocate space for a vehicle workshop. I have ordered some cars to modify for the double-0’s. They’re putting a rush on them so they start arriving in a week.”

“We’ll look at those plans as well then. What cars did you get?”

“Mostly DB10’s. Aston has just started producing them and the designs are still largely unknown. Expensive but worth it. Also, a number of bikes and a couple of standard MI6 SUV’s.” She replied.

Suddenly silence spread over the lab. Looking up they spotted the young man leaning against the doorpost a smirk playing on his lips as if he enjoyed the startled looks and anxiety filled stares he was receiving. Q cursed as he recognized the face from a file he’d read earlier that week.

Stephen Ward, otherwise known as 006, had worked his way up the ranks in the Royal Marines before doing the same in MI6, replacing the last 006 Alec Trevelyan, who Bond killed for betraying MI6. The same age as Q, his boyish looks and trained physique made him ideal for honeypot missions with younger females in mind. Most of his missions were quick in and quick out, so he usually stayed at HQ doing medial tasks to be ready at a moment’s notice. It made him perfect for bodyguard duty which apparently was going to start now.

“What we need is a bloody lock on the door to keep agents out because apparently, M didn’t arrange that either.” Q grumbled as he got up. A quick gesture had 006 waiting by the door. “Can you leave here yet? We have things to discuss with 006.”

“I’ll meet you in the conference room in a moment.” She said and she headed over to Iris and then went around the lab with her. Q stalked to the door and gestured for 006 to follow him. He moodily stalked the hallway, 006 on his tail. Others moved hastily aside and letting them pass. They entered the hall and made their way through the desk farm to the small conference room that Q was using for meetings.

“006, have a seat.” He said as soon as they entered and closed the door behind them. The agent plopped himself down into a chair, a mask of non-challans perfectly in place.

“I take it you’ve just had a meeting with M?”

“I did, sir.” Was the reply.

“I need you to tell me what precisely your assignment is. I Know you have been assigned to guard me and R, who doesn’t know yet but we will explain it to once she’ll get here. In the meantime, I need to know the detail of your assignment, to verify if they are the same details, I discussed with M.”

“I am to act as your personal bodyguard whenever one of you leaves the building. I’ve been assured you won’t leave at the same time and that there’s no need for a guard inside the building. Any changes to said assignment should be run past me and M.” Q groaned. He was starting develop a headache. That bitch. She was doing this deliberately. Making his life difficult by not communicating details, important details, to others. He bet his request for no agents in Q-branch were not communicated the same way. He’d have to confirm it with Tanner.

“Yes, I can tell you already that is not going to work.” He informed the agent, who became serious.

“M said you wouldn’t be difficult about the detail. I figured that was too much to ask. It’s my job to keep you safe, Q.” Q sighed again. He so didn’t want to have to fight over this.

“You misunderstand me. I have no problem with a guard. But I will explain once R gets here, she won’t be long.”

They fell silent. Q lost in thought and 006 studying him. Luckily, they didn’t have to wait long before the door opened and R walked in.

“I have about 15 min before I have to go back to check before I go home.” She said as she sat. Q decided not to beat around the bush.

“Because of the importance of Q branch to MI6 and our importance to Q-branch we now have protection once we leave the building. At the moment that is 006 here. It means neither of us moves outside the building at the same time but seeing as one of us has to be here anyway that isn’t a problem. It also means we need to plan around the time he needs to sleep.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me, Q.” R replied, anger clear on her face. She apparently didn’t appreciate the gesture.

“No, until we have succession in place that can step in when something happens to us, MI6 is going to make damn sure nothing will happen to us. You will accept this and work with it.” Q told her forcefully. He saw 006 slip up behind his mask, first a slight widening of the eyes in surprise before they narrowed in thought. R however wasn’t going to give up without a fight.

“He is not going to stay at my house. We already have a security team stationed in the apartment opposite us with camera access to the apartment. That is as much security I can manage.” Q shot a sideways glance to 006, who shrugged.

“M informed me of the detail, it’s sufficient. Door to door it’ll be. For both of you.” 006 said with a challenging look in his eyes. Q sighed, why did M have to make this difficult.

“No, it won’t. And I’m not saying this to be difficult. I’ve had protection for almost a decade, I know the drill. But just because MI6 wants to budge in all of the sudden doesn’t change the fact that my protection outside of MI6 is arranged by another. M has already conceded on that fact. She simply chose not to inform you.”

“And why did she choose to do that?” 006 asked as his eyes narrowed in annoyance.

“When you manage to find out, please inform me.” Q shot back with the same annoyance. “Confirm it with her. In the mean time you can take R home when she’s ready. I doubt I’ll be leaving the building for the next 24 hours. If that changes, I _will_ come and find you.” He put emphasis on will, hoping it would prevent the agent from stalking him to protect him. “There’s no need to keep taps on me, 006. Like I said I’m security conscious and have worked with teams for the last decade. I’ve never slipped a detail and I’m not going to start now. I’ll call you if I have need of you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a mission to prepare for.”

He stalked out of the room and headed for the IT department, hoping some time working with his computers would lighten his mood. This day had started badly and he could only hope it would improve.


	8. GHOST recon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Q let's everyone know what he's truly capable off.

By the time Q entered the IT department his mood had soured from grumbling to fuming. This was what he was worst at, dealing with people standing in his way. His first instinct was always to bulldozer over them in his temper. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do that with M and his frustration was building. There was really nothing he could do but try to calm down.

He didn’t greet anyone as he entered and sat behind the first empty computer he could find, not really caring who usually used it. His desk was nice for working while leading the team as it gave him great overview but if he was going to work on a computer for at least twelve hours straight, he was bloody well doing it sitting down. Besides, no laptop was really up to the level of hacking he was planning on doing.

Sitting back and he started typing, letting the world around him fall away.

* * *

Bill Tanner, head of personnel was walking through the hallways of MI6. He was off duty currently, but seeing as his wife wasn’t home yet, he was in no hurry to be there either. It wasn’t unusual for him to wander through the halls, just keeping his eyes and ears open to any problems. He used to do it during his hours on duty but since the explosion and the move, not to mention the return of 007, there really hadn’t been time. He missed it. He picked up on problems much sooner this way then when he just sat in his office and let people come to him.

Voices from the normally quiet IT department drew his attention. The nerds, as everyone called them behind their backs these days because quite frankly, they were a bunch of eccentrics who didn’t really fit in with their suit and tie wearing colleagues, were normally a quiet bunch. Something must have really upset them for their voices to reach all the way to where he was currently standing. He increased his pace but just before he reached the glass door, it flew open and one of the nerds nearly collided with him. The man was wearing jeans and a Metallica shirt which he grabbed before the man either fell or slipped around him.

“Hey!!!” The nerd shouted before realising who he had shouted at and going all red. “Oh sorry sir. I’ve got to go get R, Sir.”

“First tell me quick, are we under attack?”

“No, sir. It’s Q, sir. Sorry Sir, I really have to go get R.” The man slipped through his fingers and ran.

He stepped into the lab to find the nerds in their seats talking to one another while hard at work. Normally they worked alone so he was surprised to see hear them talking to one another. Their voices however weren’t scared but excited.

“He kicked me out again.” One of them shouted.

“I can’t even log back in.” Another one reported

“Damn, he’s good.” Another one enthused.

Only one other wasn’t participating in the shouting match. With his back to the others in the room, it took Tanner a few seconds to realise it was Q. As he approached, he saw Q’s fingers flying over the keyboard at a rate he’d never seen before.

“Q?” He called out, but Q didn’t respond, or give any indication that he’d even heard him.

“He doesn’t seem to hear us either, Sir.” A young blonde woman sitting beside Q responded. Another thing that startled Tanner. Normally these guys didn’t say much without being asked. 

“What’s he doing?” He asked.

“We don’t know, Sir. But whatever it is, he doesn’t want us to interfere.” She grinned as she explained.

Another one chimed in. “He has completely taken over all incoming and outgoing signals from the building, Sir. Some things he’s letting through, like phone calls and emails, but others, like us, he’s completely blocked. And we can’t seem to stop him. The more we try to interfere the worse he gets. I can’t even log into the server anymore.” The punker’s face seemed to switch between chagrin and grudging admiration.

“Can you see what he’s doing?” He asked the girl.

“Yes sir, he’s not hiding or anything. It’s all on the screen. He even put it on the big screen, see.” She waved to the big screen at the front of the room. Tanner looked up to see that the central screen was black except for lines and lines of code that were scrolling down. It took him a second to realise that Q was actually typing this. Suddenly the screen switched and more code appeared before switching back. Behind him someone hit his table. A farting sound came from his computer and a picture of dog laying a turd was depicted on the screen. The whole group burst out into laughter.

“Damn, he caught me. I thought I really had sneaked in.” This guy looked relatively normal, he even wore a tie, though with the Red and yellow bands disappearing under the blazer Tanner wouldn’t be surprised if there was a Hogwarts logo on it.

“Hey what if we…” And to Tanner’s surprise, the nerds stuck their heads together and started a coordinated attempt. He didn’t understand any of it and was completely ignored as the nerds turned back to their machines again.

“What’s going on here?” R stood in the door opening, 006 behind her. The guy who had ran for her, walked into the room and joined the discussion, not returning to a computer at all, probably because Q had taken over his.

“Apparently, Q took over and locked out the others and they’re trying to get back in. They’re having a tough time of it, but they’re very excited to try different ways of fending him off.” Tanner said the surprise he was feeling leaking through his voice.

“Is he blocking operations?” R asked the nerd in the Metallica shirt, her eyes narrowing.

“No, ma’am. If you look here you can see the different data flows.” He pointed to a chart in the corner of the screen. “He’s monitoring everything but only blocking certain people, namely us. We think it’s a challenge, but we’re not really sure. But I can think of no other reason why he would do this.”

“Did he say anything?”

“No ma’am, I didn’t see it but the others said he came in looking extremely pissed. He didn’t say anything and just seated himself behind my computer. A couple of minutes later we started having problems with the connection. It took us a bit to figure out what happened. We tried talking to him then, but he wasn’t responding at all. Only to our attempts at regaining control. I don’t think he’s mad at us though because of what happens when he throws us out.”

The screen switched again, filled with code and then switched back and every computer farted. All the nerds burst into laughter again.

“Oh god that was pathetic. Even faster than last time.” The girl groaned.

The guy with the Metallica shirt, he really should learn the names of these people, was watching the big screen with avid attention.

“Guy’s.” He called out. “Look at this. What does this remind you off?” The others all came out from behind their desks

“He’s logged in somewhere.” The punker replied hesitantly. “Downloading stuff. I think that’s a password cracker. And is that a logger? The rest is way over my head. What the hell.”

“No way! He’s going to hack something. He’s loading his tools. That’s why he logged us out, he doesn’t want us interfering.” The Hogwarts guy said his voice filled with confusion and admiration.

R and Tanner shared a look. ‘Call M’ R mouthed at him and he nodded and dialled.

“Yes.” M answered.

“You’re needed in IT, Ma’am.” He simply said.

“On my way.” She replied and hung up.

Now that the nerds knew what Q was up to, they focused more on the code that was scrolling down the screen. Their faces had turned a bit more serious, however the adulation hadn’t changed.

“Oh my god, that’s brilliant.” A middle-aged woman in a frilly dress said.

“Knew he was good when he had us build those firewalls from scratch. I mean, that was my best work ever. But this is so far beyond that. I wonder who he is? He’s got to be one of the famous ones.” Metallica-shirt guy replied.

“Do you think he was a black hat?” The punker asked the guy with the Hogwarts tie. The others all looked at him as if they were curious too.

“Maybe but there are a couple of white hats at this level too. Like Elflord, GHOST and 5T0RM.” ‘That guy is a hacker himself’, Tanner thought.

“I wonder if he’ll tell us.” The frilly dress woman almost squealed.

“I wonder what his target will be.” Metallica guy wondered out loud.

It seemed Q was still hearing some of what was going on in the room because at this the screen split. Code kept scrolling over the left side of the screen but on the right a browser popped up and a website loaded.

“MIT? He’s going for MIT? Is he nuts?” The hacker exclaimed.

“Jordan, talk to me.” R ordered. The group that had gathered around the hacker who’s name apparently was Jordan turned to face them. From the looks on their faces they’d seemingly forgotten that they were there.

“MIT, Ma’am. I can’t believe he’s gone for MIT.” Jordan replied hesitantly.

“What’s so special about MIT as a hackers target?” R asked sharply.

“Universities aren’t as hard to hack as Microsoft or google or something like that. They get a lot of guests that need login codes, which means a lot of activity on their databases. They aren’t as well protected because of that. Out of all universities though, MIT is the hardest because it has the best IT department. Besides, universities ALWAYS get the FBI involved. There isn’t a hacker stupid enough to try. I can’t believe Q is that stupid. He’s going to get us into so much trouble.” Jordan groaned

“Q is not stupid.” They heard behind them. M had appeared, Mallory with her.

“Q is NOT stupid.” She repeated after she stepped in. Her face looked like she’d eaten a lemon as she said it.

The eyes of the nerds had gotten big when they heard that.

“Who is he? Q, I mean?” R asked M.

Q apparently had heard the question because all the other screens of Q branch became black immediately. A blank white flag appeared. The faces of the nerds blanched.

“No way!” Jordan whispered.

“What?” R asked irritated at not having answers.

“Hackers pick names, ma’am. Especially when they’re good. They want to take credit for their work. To be able to brag about their work to other hackers. A few years ago, there was a hacker that quickly became known for hitting bigger and bigger targets, but refused to sign his work. The only way we knew it was the same guy was because he was undetectable, only leaving a small message explaining where he got in and how the target could guard against it. The others started calling him GHOST and since then he’s the only one who’s allowed to use a blank flag.”

“You said a few years ago?” M asked. Jordan blanched as he came under scrutiny by the powerful gaze.

“GHOST dropped off the radar about 5-6 years ago.” He tentatively answered. “Since then there have been copycats. But they’ve either been caught or told off by the community.”

“And GHOST didn’t get caught?” R asked.

“The FBI had a manhunt for him in the beginning because he got into some very secure stuff. But no one knew who he was, where he was or how to trace him. He never released any of the information he had access to and never hacked any government that they knew of so the search petered out. I believe the FBI still has some warrants out for him but there isn’t much interest.”

“So, he’s a white hat?” R asked.

“Yes, ma’am, or the flag would be black.” Jordan answered

“The flag is a signal then?” M asked thoughtfully.

“That’s a parley flag. It’s to identify the party that wants to communicate with you. White hats use strictly white flags. Black hats don’t use them often but when they do, they use black.” Jordan answered, squirming a little under her gaze.

“Would black hats talk to him?” She asked after thinking for a bit.

“To GHOST?” Jordan asked startled. “I think a lot of hackers and crackers, black hats, would feel honoured to talk with him, ma’am.”

M looked thoughtful for a moment longer before she took out her phone.

“GHOST is recruiting.” She said as it was answered and immediately rang off.

“Monitor only and return to work if Q lets you. Do not do anything to interfere. Understand.” She said to the group.

They answered in a mix of nods and yes ma’am’s and returned to their stations where the parley flags were still displayed.

“Q, message received.” M said. The only reaction she got was the flags disappearing from the screens and login-screens appearing in their place. With a nod M turned and motioned the others to follow her, leaving behind an excited IT department.


	9. Lessons learned.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> M gets a chewing out and 003 meets a computer savvy boffin.

R followed a fuming M towards the office with a sigh. She could’ve been home right now. Not dealing with the shit that had obviously been caused by the other woman in the room. ‘If only she’d gone home when she could but no…’ She thought as she mentally rolled her eyes. ‘She just had to stick her nose into one more thing before she left.’ And then everything just went to hell. She doubted she’d get to go home now. And even if she did, after all the excitement sleep was the last thing on her mind.

The outer office was empty and for a moment she faltered in her step and wondered if she could avoid the shitstorm by staying here. A hand at her elbow and the looming shadow of the double-0 at her back quickly deterred her of that notion.

The door of the office hadn’t even closed yet before the storm broke.

“You played games with him, didn’t you?” Mallory asked. M turned to stare at him with a stony expression.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you.” She answered. An answer which made Mallory explode to such a degree, R was secretly glad to have been forced into the office. It wasn’t often someone chewed out M.

“No, you don’t, but I don’t answer to you so unlike the others here, I can shout at you and not bear the consequences. Are you mad? Or just plain stupid? I thought he made himself very clear in the conversation you had. He is not a politician. He is not a plant. He, in fact, is the sole reason you'll still have a job next month and what do you do? Did you wake up this morning and decide this is a good day to commit political suicide.”

“He is a plant. Five years he’s been under my nose without my knowledge.” M hissed back. R almost couldn’t contain her shock. Q had worked in Q-branch for FIVE years and she hadn’t known him. She thought she knew every one of her co-workers. When Q had hired her three years ago, he had made it clear he was looking for a future successor, so she made it her job to get to know her co-workers. She thought Q had been an outside hire, brought in because she wasn’t trusted to do the job. The thought still stung a little but as she worked with and met Q, the jealousy had settled. Because Q didn’t treat her like a subordinate, she got that message quite clearly when he gave her permission to shoot him. The only thing different between her job now and the old Q’s was the title. And that suited her just fine.

“If he was a plant I wouldn’t be here.” Mallory simply stated. “Because then either he would’ve found enough and you would’ve been gone or he would’ve found nothing and moved on. Yet you’re still here and so is he. Good thing too, seeing as he was in a position to take control over Q-branch and then kept you running in a time of crisis.”

“He took over my agency.” She hissed again.

“And we would not be here if he hadn’t. Do you really expect him, of all people, to allow that to happen? But why are we arguing about this. I thought this matter had been settled.”

“He’s still here. The matter is hardly settled.”

“And you almost weren’t. You heard him the other day. He’s not a politician. He doesn’t care for political games. If he would be anything, he would be a bloody general. You don’t play politics with generals. They get mad and if you get them mad enough, they'll simply remove the obstacle in their way and you are about one move away from that happening to you. In fact, I suspect the only reason that hasn’t happened yet is because Q respects the chain of command. But I’m warning you, if you keep pushing, you just saw how very little effort it’ll take on Q’s part to destroy you.”

“Get out of my office.”

“Oh yes, I think I’ll indeed be off. I was just here to inform you off the date of the hearing after all. Good day, everyone.” And with that Mallory strode out of the office.

M turned towards the window and stared out over the desk jungle below. It was business as usual in the secretarial part of the office. No one seemed to have noticed the drama just now and in IT earlier. They saw her pull herself together and turn to sit behind her desk. 006 Moved from behind them and swaggered over to one of the chairs and deposited himself into it. A small tap on her elbow had her moving to the other one.

“Yes?” M said as if they had just walked in.

“Who is in charge of Q’s protection outside of six?” 006 asked without any prompt.

“The director is. I’d give you details but I don’t have them.” M replied. And with those words everything fell into place for R. There wasn’t a rivalry more well known within MI6 then that between M and the Director. Rumours were the Director wasn’t pleased with the way M ran things in MI6 and M wasn’t about to let anybody, even those technically higher in rank than her, tell her what to do. No wonder she thought Q was a plant if he had connections with the Director.

006 nodded and stood. R hurried to copy the move, not wanting to remain in that office a second longer then she had to. M waved her hand in dismissal already picking up the papers that had been on her desk, and they walked out of the office.

R let out a deep sigh of relief as the door closed behind her.

“Well that was a far more exciting morning then I expected or needed. Five years, and I didn’t even know. And I made it my business to know everyone in Q-branch.”

“He’s good.” 006 answered.

R frowned at him in confusion.

“Anonymity is a very good form of protection. No one knows to look for you if no one knows who you are. With him being Q that’s no longer an option off course. I wonder what type of protection he’ll switch to now?” 006 said thoughtfully.

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.” Bill replied.

“Hmmm.” She consented before a yawn overtook her. “Well it hardly seems worth the effort now but I still want to go home and find our bed for a few hours.” 006 raised his eyebrow but she was too tired to care if 006 knew who her husband was. He was going to find out anyway if he was going to be picking her up every day. “Let’s go home.” She said and led the others towards the car park.

* * *

“003, sorry to interrupt your evening of Netflix and chill, but I need you to head for the server room. The information I need is much easier accessible if you plug your dongle directly into the server instead of the security desktop computer.” The voice coming from the screen in front of him had him so startled, he almost toppled out of his seat. He’d been working as a security guard for a few weeks now and it felt nice to have a relaxed mission like this every once in a while. He was starting to feel his age sometimes, though he refused to admit it. Agents didn’t retire after all. 

This was the first day he’d been left on his own long enough to plug the little USB-like thing that had been sent to him by Q-branch via express mail, into a computer. Security desk duty meant a lot of nothing so he’d taken the opportunity to catch up on his series through an account one of the other guards had installed. Until now at least.

“Who the fuck are you?” He asked the computer, feeling silly for doing that.

“I’m Q. Who else would I be?” The bloke, who was apparently the new head of the Technological branch, sounded affronted at being asked that.

“I don’t know, your voice is coming out of the computer.”

“Not really tech savvy, are you?”

“Well I know enough to put an USB-stick into a computer. Which was more than the old Q.” He challenged.

“Well I sadly can’t correct you there, but that’s not much of a challenge is it.” No, it wasn’t but he wasn’t about to give Q the satisfaction of a victory in their little banter. Adrenaline levels dropping he sat back in his chair. He was starting to like this mouthy boffin.

“You don’t sound like an old man by the way. Who made you Q?” He asked curiously. The only Q’s he’d ever met in his career were the old engineering types.

“I did and then the government confirmed it.” His eyes shot up at that. Because surely not.

“Seriously?” He asked.

“Desperate times called for desperate measures. But don’t worry. I outgrew my spots a while ago. Now can you plug the dongle, not USB-stick, seriously USB-sticks are far smaller these days, you dinosaur, into the server?” He sniggered as he imagined the kid rolling his eyes at him.

“If I had access, sure, I could get it on my next round. But I don’t.” He shot back.

“Hmmm. Let me see.” There was a bit of humming coming from the speaker and suddenly one of the other screens had different windows open up and closing again at a lightning fast pace. Whatever this Q was doing, he was good. “Ah, they’re not smart enough to run security of the server room from inside the server room. Let’s see. Fingerprint scanner and access code. No problem. Do you see a small box somewhere? It’s black, or white if it’s an old one, about 2 by 4 by 1 cm with a smooth round surface up top?”

“Uhm I’ll have to look.” He said standing up and rummaging through the crap that was littering the desk, everything from papers to fast food cartons. “They’re not very neat here. How are you even doing this by the way? How are you talking to me?”

“You let me into the computer when you plugged in the dongle and the monitor has built-in communication capabilities designed for video calls. Which is ridiculous for a security station by the way, because it makes it 300 pounds more expensive than necessary. The manager who ordered it probably got some very nice gifts for his house for ordering a bunch of these.” The voice was patient as he explained it, which was nice for a change. Most boffins from Q-branch weren’t very patient with those not so technologically inclined.

“Video? You mean you can see me?” He asked while looking at the screen with raised eyebrows.

“Off course I can see you, do you really think I would talk to you if I didn’t think I could do so safely? Your colleague is currently in the second-floor bathroom and has been there for 15 minutes so I’m guessing he’s otherwise occupied.” Okay, this kid was seriously skilled. He wondered where they had found this one.

“Seriously.” Okay he needed to stop sounding so surprised, he began to sound like an idiot. He was still looking for the box thing Q had asked for. It wasn’t on the desk so he started looking between the monitors as Q calmly continued his explanation.

“Off course. I might not be able to get into the server easily, because the IT-department is at least semi-competent, but you plugged me directly into this station which made things very easy. Now If I had at least a day it would be fine but M’s getting rather impatient to get this information so the server it’ll have to be.” There was dust and all sorts of unmentionable things back here but among the trash he found a dust covered black thingy with a cable coming out. He pulled it forward while whipping the dust off.

“Is this the thing I’m looking for?” He held it out to the monitor.

“That’s it. Now press your thumb on the smooth surface.” He put his thumb on it. Keeping a light constant pressure until Q started talking again. “All right, your access has been made. Access code is 0000. I’ll delete it when you’re done.”

“You can do that?” He asked mentally kicking himself for sounding stupid again. He was really going to have to up his game dealing with this Q.

“Now that I have access, I’ve opened up a hole for myself in the firewall. Even after you remove the dongle, I still have access to this system. That is until they plug the hole but they’ll have to find it first. Now, I’ll leave you to your watching because your colleague just came out of hiding. Just don’t forget the dongle.”

“Thanks, Q. See you soon.” Smiling at the screen while starting Netflix back up. He had a feeling this wasn’t the last he’d heard of the cheeky but kind boffin. Normally he’d only have to deal with the boffins before starting the mission. He had a feeling this Q was going to make a lot of changes. He wasn’t sure if he was looking forward to it. One thing was for sure, he thought as he settled back in, it certainly would not be boring.

* * *

14 hours after he’d sat down, Q typed up his familiar calling card and left it in the mail of an MIT-programmer. Missions accomplished, he thought with a smile. MIT had been a little better protected then it had been so it had taken a bit longer to get in. It meant his mission with 003 had to be ran while he was still busy but the dongle was well designed and didn’t leave him with much to do. He sat up and stretched, his back popping as he went. Then he noticed quiet whispering behind him. He stood and turned.

It was busy behind him. About three times as busy as it should’ve been. The night crew was hard at work but it seemed the daytime crew had found chairs (and were those snacks?) and had gotten comfortable. They were now sitting in small clumps, quietly but excitedly discussing his work. Q snorted. This was ridiculous. They resembled a bunch of movie buffs that had just finished watching the latest MARVEL movie for crying out loud. His snort had attracted attention to the fact he was up and all eyes fixed on him. He snorted again at the awe in their eyes.

“I hope you realize that we are still MI6 and if anyone so much as breathes a word about this outside this room, the consequences will not be pleasant.” He informed the gathering, trying to be serious but a small amount of amusement still slipped through. “Now the show is over so I suggest you all head home. It’s late and I have it on good authority that most of you have work in the morning.” And with that he left the room, the kitchen and bathroom the only things on his mind.


	10. Unexpected brilliance

It was genius, 006 thought as he glanced through his rear-view mirror at his principal in the backseat, who was calmly typing away on his phone seemingly oblivious to the world. Stephen had kept his eye on Q since they met two weeks before. Q had said it wasn’t necessary during the meeting, and it hadn’t been, Q wasn’t lying about that, but the hacker had caught his attention that day. And if there was one thing any double-0 agent worth their salt did, it was sticking their nose into other people’s business. What he found had been intriguing.

The first few days had been quiet and ordinary. Q had been picked up at the end of his shift by a woman standing beside a government vehicle. The same vehicle had been his ride for the rest of the week. That was what he’d expected when he learned Q had links to the director. During his shift Q worked continuously, sometimes for as much as 24 hours straight, but never seemed particularly tired. His diet seemed to consist of tea and toast, though he didn’t appear unhealthy. Young aloof professional seemed to be the air he was projecting.

The second week though things changed. Not much, not drastic, but enough to for him to notice. First, rumours began to fly about the new Quartermaster of MI6. No one knew anything about him, so any information was grabbed with open arms. General consensus around the water cooler was the young quiet man was single, feared flying, lived with two cats in a small apartment and rode the subway to work every day. Stephen had been slightly confused at first until he discovered the sheer brilliance of it.

Because Q’s wardrobe changed slightly. Though he still wore vests and jumpers frequently, he now changed it up with a cheap, off the shelf, suit. The hair was also slightly more unkempt and a satchel that seemed to be falling apart, filled with supermarket snacks and home-made food, made its appearance. His behaviour didn’t change much though, he remained the professional he had been the week before. Though he did spend a bit more time outside of IT, touring the rest of Q-branch. Most of Q’s time outside of IT was spend in the new vehicle workshop, talking to mechanics about the programming needed for the cars and even test-driving some of them. All these changes were minute and nothing drew attention, but they all greatly fortified and fleshed-out the image that Q wanted to project.

There was one major change though, but unless someone else was also keeping tabs on the young genius they would never know. Q no longer took the car that had been his transport the week before. Stephen still wasn’t sure what Q was driving. One thing he was sure off though, Q wasn’t taking the subway. The director would never let him.

Two days ago, frustrated that Q kept popping up out of nowhere, he had simply followed Q at the end of his shift. Q’s shifts always ended the same way. R came in, Q handed over any ongoing issues before grabbing his stuff and doing a final round through all departments of Q branch before heading out. Therefor it wasn’t that hard to follow him. He watched as Q ended his walk through in the vehicle workshop, talked small talk with a couple of mechanics before disappearing into a corner of the shop and not reappearing again. He had wandered into that corner the next morning to see one of the DB10’s parked there, with a tarp over it. When he asked about it, the mechanics said it was a spare.

“Have you satisfied your curiosity yet?” Q asked quietly, startling him out of his thoughts. He looked into the mirror again only to meet the Quartermaster’s steady gaze. He mentally smacked himself. He should’ve realised someone as good as Q would know he was being watched.

“Nearly.” He replied.

“Hmmm.” Q replied. “Do you want to ask or shall I continue to make following me difficult for you. I know you enjoy a challenge.” A small smile playing on his lips. Stephen snorted.

“You’re better than most agents. Your diversion technique is flawless.”

“Thank you.” Q answered.

“The DB10?” He simply asked.

“No one expects a young bloke with two cats and a mortgage to own one. Nor does it look out of place in a workshop where more of the same are being worked on. It’s armour-plated and the glass is bulletproof. I only get out of the car in a secure location” The explanation was so simple it was genius.

“Brilliant.” His exclamation brought a small wistful smile to Q’s face.

“I live to impress.” He replied with a small bow. Stephen laughed at that.

“No, you don’t.” He shot back.

“No, I don’t.” Q replied. “So, let me repeat the question. Have you satisfied your curiosity yet? I ask because the director is very close to intervening should you actually start digging. Not that you’ll find anything, but it’ll draw attention we don’t want. I appreciate your discretion so far by the way. I understand how hard that is for you agents.”

“Wouldn’t want to be the cause of a breach in my principals security.” Stephen said, accepting the compliment and ignoring the warning for now.

“No, that would be inconvenient. However, you’ve about uncovered all you’re going to find. The only thing you could relatively safely dig into are the records of my former alias. I know you’ve already looked at the list of the employees who died in the explosion. If you still want the file, just ask. I fear any further digging will see you kidnapped and interrogated. I’d hate for that to happen.” Stephen was pleasantly surprised by the offer. He wasn’t used to information given to him, certainly not by someone who was trying to hide it.

“Who am I to turn down free information.” He replied.

“I figured you’d see it that way.” Q answered before typing some more on his phone. In Stephen’s pocket, his phone alerted.

“There.” Q said. “I’ve given you 24 hours to read it before that information disappears again. It can only be accessed via the phone in your pocket and your fingerprint is necessary to unlock it.” Stephen didn’t want to think about how it made him feel to be trusted with the information.

“Thank you, Q. I think that’ll satisfy me for now.” He replied surprising himself with the hint of warmth that was in his voice.

“Good.” Q replied, his attention once again on his phone.

Stephen’s thought’s lingered on the conversation they just had. Q had known all along he had been spying on him and had let it continue, trusted him with the information. Information that could endanger him. Sure, he made sure that Stephen didn’t find out too much, but to be trusted with that much…

The car glided into an empty car park, startling Stephen from his thoughts. Scolding himself for letting his attention slip like that, Stephen took a conscious breath and let the double-0 mask slip back into place.

“We’re here.” 006 said.

* * *

This was not where he’d expected to find a former agent of MI6. Q looked at the run-down former factory building. Agents made a large amount of money because of the dangers they put themselves in. After leaving the agency, they should be able to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.

Not that Q had ever heard of an agent retiring. Agents never retired. They died, disappeared, switched agencies or sometimes even sides and occasionally were fired. The last didn’t happen often but it was the reason he was here today. To correct a fuck-up M had made fifteen years ago.

Bill Wiggins had been an excellent agent, well on his way to double-0 status, when the mandatory psych-evaluations had come into effect. Wiggins, along with a whole group of agents, had been deemed too mentally unstable to do the job. It was only later discovered that all the good agents had a certain mental instability. Tanner, still new to the job, had repaired most of the damage, but Wiggins had felt betrayed and didn’t want his old job back. It seemed Tanner still felt somewhat responsible because when Q got a pile of personnel files of people to consider for handler positions, Wiggins’ file had been on top.

A quick nod at 006 had them moving to the door. The agent knocked. A short wait later Wiggins opened the door. The agent looked dishevelled. His clothes were dirty, hair chopped unevenly and his eyes were red rimmed. At first glance it seemed the former agent had taken up a drug habit but other signs countered that. Because Wiggins didn’t display any of the behaviours Sherlock had displayed. There wasn’t any of the nervousness or twitchiness that accompanied cravings. In fact, behind the mask the man was trying to project, the posture was relaxed but alert. He did a quick scan of 006 and then focused his attention on Q. Q watched as the man’s eyes widened in shock at seeing him before narrowing in confusion. What could possibly have caused that… oh. He was one of Sherlock’s homeless network.

“006.” Q said quietly drawing the attention of both men. “Unfortunately, it seems I need to have a conversation with agent Wiggins that is beyond your clearance.”

“Sir.” The agent started to protest.

“I understand, and Agent Wiggins will understand as well, that as my protection this makes you uncomfortable. I’m asking you to think of a way to make this possible with my safety in mind. We will be within view but out of hearing range and with our backs turned to you because I know you can lipread.”

“The building is full of smackheads.” Wiggins offered to both their surprise. “I have five knives on me. I’ll submit to a search and you can check my shoes but I’d like them back. Needles, you know. The safest place here is in the open, I suggest the car park.” 006 didn’t say anything for a long time. He just stared at Wiggins, who gazed calmly back.

“I want to cuff you.” 006 said eventually.

“Fine.” Wiggins replied evenly. It was silent for a moment longer before the agent made up his mind.

“I’ll escort you back to the car.” 006 said apparently agreeing with the plan.

Q waited in the car as 006 did a thorough search of Wiggins cuffing him. He got out at 006’s nod and walked towards the two.

“Are you sure?” 006 asked looking him in the eye as he took his place beside Wiggins.

“Are you comfortable?” Q asked in return.

“As comfortable as I’m going to be with you being out in the open. I’ll be by the car.” And with that 006 walked away. Q turned slightly and waited until 006 had settled against the bonnet off the car, his eyes never leaving them as he did so. Q turned to look at his companion.

“So, which one are you then?” Wiggins asked bluntly.

“Pardon?” Q asked with a frown.

“You’ve got a double-0 escort which means you’re high up in MI6. Not M, you’re not a politician. No politician will give information out freely. You don’t have gun calluses or those gained from working with tools so you’re not Q. So, which one are you?” The eyes and the tone of voice had Q bursting into laughter. He sounded exactly like Sherlock when he had to explain why he had asked what he had asked. Proud as a peacock and annoyed that you were being slow.

“Oh, well done.” Q answered after he’d stopped laughing. “Has my brother been teaching you? Or did you know deductive reasoning as an agent? I could tell you who I am, off course, but if you are anything like my brother, you’ll want to solve the puzzle. Take a closer look at my hands.” He held his hands up for closer inspection

“Left-handed but uses a mouse on the right.” Wiggins started right away, not interested in the other questions. “You type for a living. 10 finger blind typing. It could suggest a secretarial position but your clothes don’t match. You wear your masks as well as your brother does, but you're not an agent, because of your physique and colouring and again lack of gun calluses. You work in the IT- department and I would say hacker. But why would a hacker have a double-0 protection detail?” The smile didn’t leave Q’s face which made Wiggins frown a little, probably because he’d never had that reaction before.

“Oh well done indeed.” Q said. “The name _is_ Q by the way. Things changed with the explosion. R takes care of the gadgets now.” A light went up in Wiggins’ eyes.

“So, M finally saw the importance of the IT-department then?” He asked. Q could clearly hear the ‘I told them so’ in his voice. 

“Off course not.” He snorted

“Then how… Oh.” Q wasn’t quite sure which conclusions the agent had drawn but whichever would be at least partially correct so he decided not go into detail.

“Exactly. But anyway, on to more important things. How is the network?” He had wondered sometimes what had become of them. They used to rely on Sherlock for work after all.

“We’re doing all right. The doc checks in on us. And we get work from the Director’s Assistant sometimes.” Q burst out in laughter again. He so wanted to be there when Sherlock got wind of that.

“Oh brilliant, my brother will hate that. Good to hear you’re doing well.” He warmly answered.

“Shezza?” Wiggins asked, his eyes worried.

“He’s fine.” Q reassured the former agent. “In Hamburg as of five minutes ago. Thoroughly bored out of his skull. It should only be few months more before he can come home.” A last bit of tension leaked out of Wiggins’ posture. It made Q feel good to see the agent so relaxed. He didn’t know what had happened for the former agent to end up where he was, but it was clear to see he wasn’t unhappy with his situation and had no intention to do something else.

“Good to hear, he does know how to liven up the place. Now why are you here?”

“I came here with a job offer I know you’re not going to accept. Bill Tanner thought of you when I told him I needed handlers. It seems he still feels somewhat guilty for how things went.” Q explained.

“Tanner’s still there then? He was a good kid. Felt really apologetic for what M had done. Bitch.” Q sniggered at that.

“Not a fan of her then?” Wiggins asked.

“Of M? Other way around, I’m afraid. Not that it matters. The inevitability of time, don’t you think.” Q answered.

“Hmmm.” Was all Wiggins said but his face agreed that it was only a matter of time before M would be replaced, she was getting older after all. They were quiet for a bit, both lost in their own thoughts. There was a scuffling sound behind them, reminding Q he wasn’t here alone and he should get a move on.

“It was good to meet you, Mr. Wiggins.” He said with a nod.

“Surprisingly you too, Q. If ever you need something, there’s the second basement.” The agent replied. Q frowned in confusion.

“The second basement?” He asked.

“Your brother has a stash here.” Wiggins explained. “Mostly clothes, disguises, money, fake papers, some weapons, that sort of thing. There’s a second basement. Larger, vehicle access. If you want it, let me know.” That… was actually brilliant. They had lost a lot in the explosion and it still stung a little he had been forced to send 007 into the field with only a gun and a radio.

“That is a very generous offer, Mr. Wiggins. Thank you. I’ll talk to R about it and contact you soon, barring unforeseen circumstances.” He said already pondering about how to keep this knowledge just between him and R.

“That’s fine, not going anywhere.” Wiggins answered with a grin. Q looked over his shoulder and gave 006 a nod, who came to unlock the handcuffs and after another round of farewells, they left.

007’s alarm going off a few hours later reminded Q he should really stop jinxing himself.


	11. Bond's return

Headquarters was just as much of an ant farm now as when he left it although there wasn’t any construction anymore. James leant against the railing and took a moment to take it all in before going in search for Q.

“007.” He turned to see a woman in a lab coat. He did a quick scan of her. Blond hair with a grey one here and there, tired expression, fierce posture, hints of a ring on her finger, sensible jeans and shoes.

“R.” He guessed. She nodded in greeting.

“Follow me please.” She said and promptly turned and headed towards one of the side entrances towards the labs.

“I thought I was meant to see Q.” He asked as he kept pace with her.

“Q’s busy, besides it’s my equipment.” She replied.

“Ah, I suppose that’s true. This is for Q though.” He said as he gestured to the laptop-case he had in his hand.

“Then I guess you’ll see Q after you see M.” She conceded.

They entered the lab and headed to the table up front. The other engineers glanced up from their work as they came in and looked uncomfortable with him being there but went back to work quickly enough.

“Now please hand over your equipment, 007.” R asked. James hid a smile of amusement as he put the radio on the table.

“And where is the gun?” R asked sounding irritated.

“It got eaten.” He informed her.

“Eaten.” R intoned, clearly not amused.

“By a comodo dragon.” He replied not able to prevent a tiny smile from gracing his lips at her temper.

“And how did my gun, a prototype I might add, end up in the mouth of a dragon?” R asked as she pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to keep herself from shouting at him. It was refreshing to James to meet someone in MI6, besides M, that had absolutely no fear of him.

“It was in the hand of the man it was eating. A man who was failing to shoot me with it.” He said, hoping that giving her that would help keep him on good footing with her. She gave him a shrewd look clearly onto what he was trying to achieve but calmed down anyway.

“Well, at least it fulfilled its purpose.” She sighed. “However, I want an after-action report from you, 007. One my engineers will actually find useful. Filled with minute detail about the function of said weapon and lacking in a discussion about its usefulness as dragon food. Until I have it, you’ll receive nothing but the bog-standard equipment all A-level agents get.” That wasn’t so bad, he supposed. The standard stuff wasn’t bad after all, it just wasn’t tailored for the mission. Besides he had plenty of time to do it. That being said, he wouldn’t be much of a double-0 agent if he didn’t push at boundaries.

“So, I don't get to test these?” He asked as he reached out towards the tiny flesh coloured pills that were lying in a box lined with red velvet.

“Don’t touch that.” She said, actually slapping his hand away. “If you touch it, you’ll have to put it in or it’ll self-destruct. And seeing as you have a meeting with M next there’s no time for an impromptu field-test.”

“What is it?” He asked curious.

“It’s an earpiece and microphone. You push it in your ear as far as you possibly can with your finger. It’ll automatically turn on and make connection with the nearest Wi-Fi signal, secured or not, and connects to headquarters. It hears as much as you do, and passes sound through flawlessly. It also monitors vital signs and GPS coordinates. It lasts for five days.”

“All this in such a small thing?” He mumbled slightly in awe.

“Nano technology has come a long way while you were dead, Bond. Now was there anything else you needed? I have work to do. And I do believe you’re keeping M waiting.” Not waiting for him to answer she turned away to her laptop, clearly dismissing him. James contemplated for a moment to snatch one of the earpieces anyway, but refrained and headed for M’s office.

* * *

Two hours later James was back leaning on the railing of the balcony overlooking the desk farm. The discussion with M had been… enlightening. She congratulated him on the capture of Silva. But as they discussed the man, his base and the fact that he had access to the MI6 servers, one thing became exceedingly clear to him.

M did not like the quartermaster.

So much so that she didn’t even want to speak to him. She basically ordered James to relay a message, because he was heading there anyway, and then report back when he knew the answer. It irritated him to be ordered to act as carrier pigeon for her. But it also made him wonder about two things. Why didn’t she like the boffin? At first glance James had seen nothing wrong with him, but he’d only met the boy once and that was three weeks ago. The second question was a bit more concerning.

If M didn’t like Q, why hadn’t she fired him yet?

That was when Moneypenny had found him. The woman didn’t seem to notice his pensive mood, or if she did, she ignored it. She chatted to him happily, catching him up on the latest gossip going around. Surprisingly most of it was about the quartermaster. It confirmed the image he already had about the man, nothing stood out much.

It raised his suspicions even more.

He remained on the balcony when Moneypenny left to return to work, but made no progress with his thoughts. There was only one thing for it, he figured and went in search of the IT-department.

James smirked at the silence that greeted him when he stepped into the high-tech room and headed towards the only one that hadn’t even looked up as he entered. At first James thought Q hadn’t realised he was there, but as he got closer, he could hear the quartermaster’s soft grumbling about people still not heading his words. Q didn’t stop typing though, even when he put the laptop bag on the desk beside him.

“Bond.” Q said, not even taking his eyes off the screen.

“Q.” He replied.

“Good that you’re in one piece. Now what’s this?” Q asked, still not looking up.

“It’s a laptop.” James answered drily. The ‘no shit’ Q muttered under his breath made him smirk again. It sounded like Q wasn’t having such a good day.

“I do have eyes you know.” Q said drily.

“Well maybe you should use them.” He replied, getting a bit annoyed that Q wouldn’t stop working.

“I would, but then Huawei would know I was in their network and I’d hate for us to get into trouble with the Chinese.” James’ eyebrows rose. Q was a hacker. By the sound of it a good one. It seemed the IT-department was very good at keeping secrets because that little bit of information had not been among the rumours he’d heard.

“And what did Huawei do to deserve such a fate? Did your 5G fail to connect this morning?” He enquired lightly, though his reasons for asking were far more serious.

“I’m recruiting, Bond. But never you mind. Why have you brought me a laptop?” Oh, Bond minded very much, but he couldn’t find a good enough reason to ask more questions without raising suspicion.

“Because M wants to know what’s on it. It belongs to a hacker.” He replied.

“Does it now?” Q mumbled again before he raised his voice. “Jordan.”

“Yes, Sir?” One of Q’s men walked up and waited a safe distance away. ‘Smart man’ Bond thought.

“Put that in a lead box please, to prevent it from being remotely activated. Then go find R and ask her to start the designs for a faraday cage large enough to test that thing.” The man held out his hands and James gave over the laptop and watched the man disappear with it out the door.

“Q?” He asked, wondering why Q wouldn’t just look at the laptop.

“Hackers, especially black hats have the nasty tendency to boobytrap their laptops, 007. Please return in an hour or two. I should be done by then and I need to know details before I go anywhere near that thing.” Q replied, dismissing him but James wasn’t done yet.

“M also wants to know how Silva had access to our systems after you assured her it was secure?” Q stopped typing for a good five seconds before he started up again.

“He had access to our servers? How do you know.” Q asked in a neutral voice, like the question hadn’t affected him at all.

“Because he told me I failed my proficiency tests.”

“Shit.” Q mumbled before he raised his voice again. “Call in reinforcements. Scan every corner of the system, check everything. I want to know how the hell he got into our system.” Around them people sprang into action. Except for Q. If he hadn’t cursed just now James would’ve thought this hadn’t affected Q at all. He still looked completely unfazed and still continued typing. He was paying more attention though.

“Tell me about Silva.” He ordered.

“Raoul Silva, former 005. Was very wanted by the Chinese. M exchanged him for another agent who had gotten captured. Was held and tortured for years, before either being released or escaping. And now he wants revenge on M. I found him on an island. He had a lot of computer towers and had no problems calling up my information.” James replied.

“Ah.” Q sighed. “Who is responsible for updating the user-database?” He asked out loud still typing along.

“Uhm… I think personnel.” The hesitant answer came from a middle-aged woman in a dress that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the WW2-era. Q sighed again, an irritated sigh that sounded like he was angry with himself. Then he grumbled to himself what an idiot he was for overlooking something so obvious. The screen in front of them split, code flowing down it until it disappeared again.

“I’ve just rescinded personnel’s access to the user-database so if they come complaining you can point them in my direction.” Bond’s eyebrows rose minutely at the ease that Q had done that with. “Iris, I want you, Andy and Justin to go through the user-database with a fine-tooth comb. Rescind any access of confirmed deceased and former personnel. Setup an alert for activity on accounts of personnel with an unknown or dark status and limit their access. Make sure all passwords are reset except for active agents in the field. After the database is cleaned up, I want you to develop systems of regular password resets for everyone, but not when agents are in the field. I also want someone to check the database every day. Set up a system between yourselves and anyone else you need. And when Jordan returns, I want him to go through the logs for Raoul Silva’s access codes. I want to know what information he accessed.”

A punker and guy in an Iron Maiden T-shirt jumped up immediately and went over to the young woman. Behind him conversation started up as the nerds started coordinating their work. Q seemed to listen to the voices behind him for a minute before nodding to himself. All the while the typing hadn’t slowed at all. Q was good, very good. Bond wondered just how good he was. He also wondered what M’s problem was with the genius. He seemed to be taking his job seriously.

“I know she probably asked you for an update, 007, but I won’t let her use you as a messenger. As soon as I’m done here, I’ll report to M myself. Just because she doesn’t like me doesn’t mean I can’t work with her. I would like to hear about the setup Silva had however. But that can wait until you’ve rested. Please return here in 12 hours.”

So, Q was aware of M’s dislike of him and her attempts to avoid him. For a moment Bond wanted to be a fly on the wall for that meeting. But as that wasn’t about to happen, rest did sound like a good alternative. He just had to find a good hotel. He nodded and turned to leave.

“And, 007”

He turned back. Q was looking at him and even stopped typing.

“If you want to know more, ask 006. He’s been acting as my bodyguard and satisfied his own curiosity. He should be able to ease your suspicions about me.” That said he turned back and the typing started up again. Without a word to anyone else, James left the building.

When he Found Q 12 hours later as requested, he was hard at work and very very angry.


	12. Lighting the fuse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: lots of cussing in this chapter.

Grabbing 6 and forcing him into the locker room probably hadn’t been his best idea. Luckily the man hadn’t struggled. He’d come from the front precisely for that reason. 6 knew James didn’t like him. It was nothing personal, but the number 006 was forever soiled by memories of Alec. 6 knew that off course and they tried to avoid each other, being strictly professional when they had to interact.

The other man straightened his clothes as James let him go and calmly looked him in the eye.

“7. Glad to see you’re not dead. What can I do for you?” 6 asked him calmly.

“Tell me about, Q.” He ordered. 6 started laughing.

“Q.” He laughed. “Holy fuck, what CAN I tell you about Q. Not a fucking lot that’s what. Two weeks I followed him and all I got was how fucking brilliant he is.”

What followed was a description James didn’t know how to feel about. It certainly was colourful. As a former Royal Marine, 6 tended to cuss a lot when emotional. As the story continued though James could understand. The things 6 told him were terrifying.

“Q is connected to the Director, that’s why M doesn’t like him.”

“He was fucking unto me from the beginning. He knew everything I learned about him. After two weeks he simply asked me if I was satisfied with what I learned yet, calmly answered my questions, handed me his fucking spotless file from before he was Q and then warned me if I didn’t stop digging, I would get fucking kidnapped and interrogated by the Director.”

“He worked here for 5 years under a false name. 5 YEARS and NOBODY fucking knew. And now that he’s Q, only M and Mallory know his name and you know what the most terrifying thing about that is? I think they only know his last name and that’s it. No home address, no date of birth, nothing.”

“You know those rumours that are flying around? False, all of them. He’s projecting an image of himself and spreading rumours to fortify it. First perfect anonymity and now perfect diversion. Fucking master of disguise.”

“Before he worked MI6 Q was a world-famous hacker named GHOST. He started hacking again to recruit other hackers to work here. You should’ve seen the faces of the nerds when they discovered his identity. They fucking worship him because he can hack without leaving even a fucking trace if he wants to. If he ever went dark the world wouldn’t stand a chance. As it is he knows a lot off secrets from all the top companies in the world.”

“M didn’t appoint Q. Q took charge of Q-branch and practically ran the agency after the explosion. The director just confirmed his appointment.”

It had all sounded like a shitstorm. Like an operative planted to eliminate MI6 or at least supplant M. But then 6’s story changed.

“Mallory said M wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Q. The merger with MI5 was meant to end M, but with Q in place the plan is off the table. The hearing today is just for show as it had already been set up. He also said if Q was a plant either Q or M wouldn’t be here right now. No, Q wants to be here.”

“Q is not a politician. He doesn’t want to take control of MI6. Won’t say that he won’t though, should the need arise. Mallory compared him to a general.”

“Q clocks about 100-120 hours a week. He and R run the department together. I’ve seen Q work 48 hour shifts and be busy continuously. He didn't even look very tired after.”

“Q-branch adores him.”

“He gave R permission to shoot him should he do anything to hurt MI6.”

“Q’s friendly and helpful to everyone. He has the patience of a saint. M has been pushing his fucking buttons to the extreme and all he did was make a point. He could’ve easily destroyed everything with just a push of a button. But he hasn’t.”

“M ordered him to do stuff he didn’t agree with, he did it anyway. He protested off course and it was small stuff, granted, but he does it anyway. He accepts that M is in charge of MI6.”

“M lost her temper with Q plenty of times, but he never with her. It’s why she’s avoiding him if he lets her.”

It was terrifying and reassuring at the same time. To know that there was someone with that kind of power right under their noses, but from what 6 said it was kind of obvious that Q had no desire to use that power for anything but the good of MI6. And with connections to the Director, his loyalty to Queen and country wasn’t in question. The description of general James could also agree with after he’d seen the ease at which Q gave orders.

This was why he didn’t really flinch when he walked into the IT-department and saw the fury burning in Q’s eyes.

* * *

Q was trying very hard to keep himself calm and to keep working, but it was so bloody difficult. That bitch. That utter bitch. How dare she order him to put the agency in harms way. All for information they weren’t even sure was there. He had argued waiting a week until R was done with the Faraday cage, he had argued finding one and borrowing it if she didn’t want to wait. It had all been shoved aside. The laptop had been scanned and deemed free from explosives and other contaminants and thus safe. Q couldn’t believe the naiveté. The only concessions he had gotten out of her were that she, being the primary target, would be out of the building and that she would increase the guards around Silva. Then M decided that he would use the time she was at the hearing to investigate the laptop.

So here he was, trying to come up with ways this laptop could be boobytrapped and how to protect against it. He wasn’t managing very well, pissed off as he was. He glared at the laptop that was lying on the table before him, still in the metal box. If this thing blew up in his face like he expected it would do, he was going to take care of M. There was plenty of evidence then to force her to retire.

“Q, you’re scaring your minions. The laptop isn’t going to melt no matter how hard you glare at it.” An amused voice brought him back to reality. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, letting his emotions fall away. He needed a clear head for this and scaring the others, minions he thought amused, wasn’t helpful either. There was nothing to be gained from being this emotional. Later, he thought, save it for later. For now, let’s just ride out this clusterfuck and make sure we come out the other end.

He opened his eyes and looked to the room beyond his desk. The others were staring at him with wide eyes. In the middle of the room stood 007 with an amused smile on his face.

“It’s not often I’m not the scariest person in the room.” Bond informed him.

“Enjoy it while it lasts.” He shot back.

“Oh, I think it’ll do them good. Maybe now they’ll stop flinching whenever an agent walks into the room.” Bond replied with a shark smile that was all teeth.

“Hmmm but then where would you get your fun. I’m sorry you came this way for nothing. It seems my concerns have been deemed unfounded and I’ve been ordered to examine the laptop today.” He couldn’t suppress the grimace that thought produced. What was wrong with him today. He normally was far better in hiding his emotions.

“They scanned it for explosives I presume.”

“They did and radiation, pathogens and anything else they could think of. It came up clean.”

“And you still don’t feel comfortable examining it.”

“Call me paranoid but no. But a faraday cage is still under construction and won’t be done for a week. And M won’t let me search for another one to use. So, I have no choice.” The last bit he said with his teeth clenched together. He took another calming breath.

“Do you normally have such problems with your emotions?” 007 asked.

“No.” he bit out

“I thought so. M is getting to you then.” The agent concluded. There wasn’t a hint of accusation or ridicule in there. Just understanding.

“I know. It is a weakness of mine. Caring is not an advantage.” He parroted Mycroft with gritted teeth. Another deep breath.

“I think you did admirably. You lasted for almost a month. M is good at what she does.”

“That she is.”

“And so are you. So, talk to me. What can we do to protect the agency?”

He took another deep breath. And then another. Damn it, his brain was still not working. Another breath.

“Just talk, Q. You need to unlock that brain of yours. Start with what you’ve already done.” Gratitude blossomed in his chest for the agent. What Bond said actually helped to get going. With another deep breath he started to talk.

“We’ve excluded explosives, radiation and pathogens as a source of threat. That means it probably won’t explode when we turn it on. The battery could be wired, but no such wires were detected on the scans. The laptop is a home design which means, unless we open it, we don’t know exactly what hardware it contains. But all hackers have case intrusion security that wipe the hard drive if the case is opened. There’s nothing we can do about that. We can only focus on the programming. Jordan, I need a laptop to connect to this one. An empty one, containing no data whatsoever except an operating system. Get one from storage. Make sure nothing is installed on it yet. If there is wipe it completely and install unix or linux, whichever one is faster to install. Then bring it here.” And back was his brain. Q send Bond a grateful smile before continuing.

“The rest of you. Shield everything you can from this room. Make sure all data is secure. Back up the server. Remove all electronics you can. Laptops, tablets, phones. None of it stays in this room.” Around him the room jumped into action, all except Bond who walked up to him.

“Thank you.” He said with a deep breath.

“Nothing I haven’t done before.” Bond shrugged it off. “Sometimes agents get that way too. I’ll stay here a bit longer. Just in case things go like you expect. After this make sure you rest.”

“Already planned too. 24 hours of sleep and then I think I’ll spent the rest of the week hacking Disney. I hope one of their security features is the ‘it’s a small world’ song on repeat with no mute button.” Bond laughed at that.

“Be sure to put it on speaker, I’m sure your minions will enjoy it too.”

“They’re not minions, Bond.”

“They worship the ground you walk on and do anything you ask. You order them around. They even look as nerdy as the minions from that movie do. They’re minions. Much better name for them then nerds.” Q snorted shaking his head a little.

“If you say so. As long as you don’t treat them like it. They’re still valued co-workers.”

“Wouldn’t dare. Then their fierce general will erase me from existence.” That brought a laugh out, which Q knew the agent had intended but he let it happen anyway.

“And don’t you forget it.” He said still laughing. “Now let me get to work or today will be doomed from the start.” And he turned back to his screen, calm settling over him as he dived into his codes. Bond hovered at his shoulder, but it didn’t bother him at all. If anything, the other presence was a help and a comfort. Bond seemed to sense when he got distracted and got him back on track with some light banter, staying silent the rest of the time. Slowly he relaxed more and more. In the end he was the more relaxed then he had been in the last 3 weeks.

And then they were ready. Q looked around silently asking the others if they were ready. They all nodded back confidently.

With a deep sigh he connected both laptops and pressed the power button.


	13. Ignition

Q is in his element, James thought as he watched the hacker work. As it was so often, code was scrolling down a black background on the computer Q was typing on while on the other there was one simple word.

Password:

Q looked tense as he typed insanely fast on the other laptop. However, the grin on his face belied just how excited he was. He must’ve found a real challenge, James thought. Something that probably didn’t happen very often. The more Q typed the bigger the grin became. Until he actually laughed.

“You Arse.” Q laughed. “Using my own invention against me, huh? We’ll see about that.” And the typing actually increased even further in speed.

“What is it?” James asked.

“He’s using a polymorphic engine to mutate the code. Every time I try to access it, it changes. Like solving a Rubik’s cube that’s fighting back. There’s only six people worldwide who can program this. It has shortened our list of possible identities considerably.” Q smiled like a shark closing in on his prey. The minions looked, if possible, even more in awe of Q. They were gathered by the door ready to run in or out of the room should the need arise.

While Q was typing, Bond looked over his shoulder. While he didn’t know anything about computer code, he knew a thing or two about code breaking. He started looking for a pattern. After a bit he thought he’d spotted something, but Q was typing so fast he couldn’t really make it out.

“Q would it mess you up if you slowed down or stopped? I think I spotted something.”

Immediately the typing stopped. James stared at the screen. Now that the code wasn’t flying over the screen anymore, he saw it more clearly. It took only a few seconds to put the letters together, seeing as most were already in the right place.

“Granborough. Granborough road. It’s an abandoned tube station on the metropolitan line. Could be a key.”

“Too easy. See how it stands out against the hex code. It doesn’t really belong there. Only six other people in the world could’ve wrote this. They won’t make the solution that easy. It’s a trap. Good spot though.” That was a very good point and he was grateful to Q for explaining it. And for doing it nicely. Q could’ve easily been grumpy for taking him out of his rhythm.

“Agreed and thank you.” He acknowledged, meeting Q’s eyes with a grateful smile. Q turned back to the screen and the code resumed its gruelling pace down the page. Now that he knew what to look out for, he began to look deeper, ignoring the obvious, looking for the truly hidden. It was Q though who spotted it first.

“Ah, there we go.” Q let out triumphantly. On the other screen the password request disappeared leaving the screen black and empty.

“Oehhh old-school. That rules some folks out.” Q said and he started typing. An enter revealed a list. However, suddenly code started scrolling down the screen without Q typing, first on the hacker’s laptop, then on Q’s.

“And there he is.” Q said as he started typing at a murderous pace, but apparently, he had no chance. Both screens turned black and a black flag with a sugar skull appeared.

“MU3RT0S” Q breathed. He clicked the flag and a screen popped up.

“And now you’ve made a mistake, you overconfident pillock.” Q started typing again, code flying in the popped-up screen. Some information appeared before the screens turned black again.

“Gotcha. Need a pen and paper. Quick.” He said as he snapped his fingers at James, who raised one eyebrow in disbelief at being treated like a servant but reached into his pocket and handing over a notepad and pen anyway. Q jotted something down quickly.

On the screen lettering appeared.

YOU CLEVER BOY

Before the screen turned black again and new letters appeared.

NOT CLEVER ENOUGH

Q’s face wrinkled in disgust as a skull filled the screen behind the lettering and high mechanical laughter rang through the room but that wasn’t what drew James’s attention. Underneath the laughter he heard a very faint whining sound.

“Q, what’s that sound?” He asked. It was getting higher and louder. Almost like something was charging. Q’s eyes grew wide.

“EMP!!!” James reacted to Q’s shout. He tackled Q to the floor, landing on top of him.

Around them all electronics shorted out in a rain of sparks, filling the room with acrid smoke and darkness.

* * *

Q felt himself being picked and tossed over the agent’s shoulder like he weighed nothing. The smoke was thick and he didn’t see the open escape hatch until they’d almost fallen into it.

“Look out.” He shouted regretting it immediately as he breathed in a lungful of smoke. He started coughing. Luckily 007 managed to evaded the row of holes in the floor. They made it out the glass door, which stood ajar. Bond ran about 10 meters before promptly putting him on his feet.

He looked around. The others were gathered around him, Bond doing a headcount. Above him, emergency lighting gave off just enough light. Why was the building lighting down? The EMP hadn’t reached here, or else the emergency lighting would’ve been out too. Unless… Shit the building controls.

“Everyone accounted for, Q.” Bond reported.

“Bond, they’re freeing Silva. Go.” He relayed to the agent who took off running.

“Right, damage control.” He called out. “Get our electronics, then head to the central hall. We’re setting up there. Go.” Q ordered the programmers. They took off, running down the corridor to where they’d hidden the electronics. Q didn’t follow them knowing they’d bring his stuff too. He headed straight to the hall. Because if the central building controls were fried as he thought they were, every electronic lock and every emergency exit would be open. They were now sitting ducks.

He exited the corridor and placed himself on the balcony in full view of the pandemonium below. He whistled as loud as he could, the shrill sound echoing across the vaulted ceiling.

“Listen carefully.” He said calmly and intensely. “All entrances and exits are compromised but we are NOT evacuating. All agents and all those licensed to carry report to 006 before the stairs. He will be in charge of security until further notice. 006 report to me first. Everyone else will secure what they can, make room for IT to set up shop here. As the highest ranked present, I will be in charge until further notice. R will run the building. If you don’t have anything to do get out of the way until there’s a task for you. Get to it.” His minions streamed out of the tunnel behind him. He followed them down the stairs. He found his laptop on a desk next to Jordan’s.

He turned to the other hacker and tossed him the notebook that he’d managed to grab before 007 had tackled him.

“MU3RT0S is scum of the earth. He’s had dealings with every black market and terrorist group there is. You hunt him down. Make him panic so he’ll do something stupid. Don’t stop until you have a location and as many pictures you can get.” Q ordered. Jordan opened the notebook, gaped a moment at the IP-address dotted down on the page, before grinning.

“Yes, sir.” He said as he got to work.

Q waited impatiently through the seconds it took for his laptop to boot when 006 popped up next to him.

“Sitrep?” 006 asked. R appeared as well.

“An EMP has gone off in the laptop I was examining. Unfortunately building controls were fried. All exits that were secured electronically opened automatically. They will need securing. As I fear they’re freeing Silva, I’ve sent 007 that way immediately. That situation needs to be contained and secured so medical can look at any survivors. Tell me or R anything you need.” He typed in his password impatiently and waited again for the connection to the server to be made.

“I need blueprints of the building. A lot of communication equipment and access to the armoury.” 006 requested immediately.

“Got it.” R said.

“I don’t know if I’ll need back-up.” 006 began hesitantly.

“If you need it come to me and I’ll arrange it immediately.” Q replied while mentally grumbling about needing a faster laptop.

“Roger.” 006 turned and headed out to talk to his troops.

“I’ll start on lighting and building controls immediately. I’ll need to borrow 2 of your programmers.”

“You’ll get Andy definitely and Justin if I can spare him when you need them. They are most familiar with that type of programming. Focus on securing the building first.” He replied.

“Roger.” R said and headed off.

Finally, his computer had started opening all the programs he normally had running. The one that monitored incoming and outgoing signals started to alert immediately. It wasn’t the intruders alert though so it took a second for Q to remember this was the alert he’d designated to the new earpieces. It seemed someone decided it was time to test them. He connected to it immediately.

“Q?” Bond’s voice came through his lousy laptop speakers. “Q, can you hear me? Q.”

“Headset.” He asked the other programmers around him. A wireless headset designed for phones was tossed his way. ‘Good enough’ Q thought. He quickly established connection with it and connected it to 007’s frequency.

“Receiving you loud and clear, 007. Report.” Q answered.

“Oh good, for a moment I thought these things wouldn’t work. He’s gone, Q.” Q grimaced.

“Roger, locking in on your signal. Hacking CCTV for visuals. Do you want me to navigate you?” These were double-0’s after all. Lone wolfs. Bond might not want his input until he asked for it.

“I do. I’m in the tunnels underneath isolation.” Bond answered. Q changed gears immediately.

“Hacking city council for a map of underground London. Overlaying your signal. Gotcha. Just keep moving forward. Take the next service door to your right. You should be in the tube.” He used Mycroft’s access codes to get into CCTV. This way he wouldn’t be kicked out when discovered. He had no time to do this cleanly after all.

“I’m in the tube.” Bond reported

“Head right. Nearest station is temple. Checking CCTV of Silva’s presence. Keep going until you see a service door to your left.” Temple tube station was packed. How the hell was he going to spot Silva. Sure, the guy was fairly recognisable but still… That’s it. He pulled up facial recognition software pulled up Silva’s mugshot. He didn’t need a ten-point comparison for this. He focused on the jaw line and chin which were then man’s identifying features and then let the program scan the hundred cameras.

“Got it. But it won’t open.” The program alerted and Q saw Silva just as he passed between two agents. He suddenly had a package in his hands.

“Off course it will, put your back into it.” He shot at the agent just because sometimes it is fun to poke at a sleeping bear and he was under a lot of stress right now. He searched another angle for the hand-off. He didn’t just want to Silva, he didn’t just want MU3RT0S, he wanted every bloody henchman the man had hired.

“Why don’t you come down here and put your back into it.” Bond shot back a bit irritated. He found a good enough still and send it off to Iris who sat on a desk opposite him.

“Run those through facial recognition will you.” He ordered the young woman before answering the agent. “My back, 007, won’t be nearly as effective as yours seeing as I’m a pathetic weakling.” He shot back. He heard 007 try again.

“You most certainly are, lightweight. No, it won’t budge. Oh good, there’s a train coming.”

“That’s vexing.” He replied, a little worried with that revelation. He could hear the train coming closer as he followed Silva on the cameras. The turncoat agent found a service entrance behind which he changed into a police uniform. He heard Bond really put his back into it as he desperately tried to get the door open. The train was deafeningly close now and Q turned down the volume of his headset and hope he wasn’t about to hear the agent’s demise. He almost missed the sound of gunfire over the train noise. He listened anxious for a few seconds.

“I’m through.” Bond said as the train noise lessened quickly. 

“Told you.” He shot back not bothering to hide his relief. “Located Silva in Temple. He’s dressed as a police man now. Pick up the pace, he’s about to get on a train.”

“Entering temple now. Christ, Half of London is here.”

“You’re close though. Turn right at the end of the corridor to get onto the platform. Don’t get on until I confirm he’s on it.” He shifted to the camera’s that pointed to the train entrances. Damn, the man was keeping his head down.

“Q, do I get on the train?” Bond asked. He wanted to confirm it was him. There were other police men in the station after all. He was 99% sure that this was Silva but he needed to be sure. Just as the doors closed the man looked up.

“Bond? Get on the train.” Q commanded. He watched on the camera’s as the man started running. Then the tracker on the agent sped up.

“Good job, 007.” Q said. “He’s in the front carriage.”

“Sir, we’ve got hits on the facials.” Iris send back the results. Q opened them, his face paling when he looked them over. He immediately took out his phone.

“Sir.” April answered immediately.

“Run CCTV against facials of all known lower rank associates of Moriarty. I have reason to believe a lot of them are active at the moment. I have a confirmed sighting in Temple tube station. More hotspots will follow. They’re using official police uniforms. Time to design new ones.”

“Understood.” She answered and rang off immediately. He turned his attention back to Bond, who was slowly making his way towards his target. His tracker moving through the District line towards parliament.

“Where is he going?” Q wondered out loud. “What’s his target?” He wasn’t the one who answered the question though.

“He’s going for M. Tell Tanner. Get her out of there.” Q quickly sent an e-mail and a text message hoping that one or both would alert the other man. He wondered what else he could do, because it wasn’t certain the message would be received. Then his eyes grew wide. There was someone at that meeting that ALWAYS had his phone on… Mycroft. He quickly sent a message

_Vatican Cameo’s. Silva’s coming for M. Q_

“He’s onto me, Q. He’s going to run.” Bond said. Q quickly switched the CCTV camera’s to Embankment station.

“Ready.” He said as the train entered the station.

Bond’s tracker moved as soon as the doors opened. He watched the camera’s as the two made their way through the crowd and slid down the central divide between the escalators. They ran after one another, Bond gaining until they entered the central hall that was filled with policemen. Then even Q lost track. He immediately started facial recognition again.

“Q, I’ve lost him.” Bond reported.

“So have I. Searching CCTV. Keep your eyes open.”

“I have an open service door. Keep searching the station just in case.”

“Roger.”

The CCTV camera angles were all wrong. Too steep to recognise any faces. Frustrated, he dialled April again.

“Sir.” She answered again.

“Two new hotspots. Embankment station. And parliament. There’s going to be a shoot-out at the hearing. Already warned him. Secure a large perimeter. Emergency services can go in but not out without identification. Grab the bastards. Also, Embankment CCTV needs recalibrating.”

“Understood.” Was all she said.

Gunshots sounded alerting Q that 007 had caught up with his target.

“I won’t miss next time, Mr. Silva.” Bond said.

“Not bad, not bad, James. For a physical wreck.” Silva taunted and Q had to bite his lip not to mouth off. He wouldn’t distract Bond however.

“Thank you.” The agent said calmly.

“Now, here’s your price. Latest thing from my local toy store.” The words put Q on edge. He started looking for anything in Bonds vicinity to hack but he couldn’t find anything. “It’s called radio.” Silva said and Q closed his eyes as he heard an explosion.


	14. The game is on

Jordan faced his most difficult task in his life so far. Chasing a hacker through logs was difficult, hunting a hacker as good as MU3RT0S was nigh on impossible. He couldn’t believe GHOST, Q, believed _he_ could do this.

“Believe in yourself, CR0W, you can do this.” He mumbled to himself as he got to work tracing the IP-address and hacking its source. He couldn’t have been given a better starting point. However, it was like being given the entrance to a maze. He was now going to chase a runner through said maze and the runner knew the way and was at least three turns ahead of him.

The first few points were fairly easy to trace. They were home systems, a limited number of IP-addresses making log-entries, some hadn’t even been used by anyone besides MU3RT0S in the last few hours. This gave him a little confidence that maybe he would be able to catch up. He just hoped MU3RT0S hadn’t gone through the trouble of using a big company to route his signal through. If he’d done that, Jordan was toast. He knew he was a decent hacker, but he was nowhere near the level of his hero’s, one of whom was sitting next to him.

It had been three weeks since GHOST revealed himself, but Jordan still couldn’t believe he had worked for years with his favourite hacker. Q was so different from the silent but competent Ormond Greaves who’d sat at the desk in the back corner all day. Jordan, who had occupied the desk next to Ormond’s and who wasn’t much of a talker himself unless he got excited, had kept half an eye on him just in case the man got bullied. That had never happened. A few people had come up to Ormond in the beginning, but he had brushed them all off with his bland and disinterested attitude. Jordan could never have imagined that the quiet, hide in the corner Ormond would turn into the born leader Q was. And then he turned out to be GHOST on top of that. GHOST, who counted on him to do the impossible.

‘No! Not impossible.’ He sternly told himself. ‘If GHOST thinks you can do it, then you can do this, CR0W.’

The first real hurdle he encountered was the router of a small business. It was more secure then the average household, who usually didn’t even change the username and password of their router from the standard admin admin, or the one their provider provided. It took him a few minutes to get into the logs and saw activity of at least three separate IP’s in the timeframe he was looking at. Damn. He quickly scanned the activity and found it. One of them only had entry and exit registered, nothing else. MU3RT0S was cleaning up after himself, but seeing that CR0W wasn’t interested in anything but entry and exit from the system, that was a mistake because it made him stand out. He was off again.

Now that he knew how MU3RT0S was trying to cover his tracks he picked up pace a little. He streaked through home systems faster then he’d ever done, not bothering to cover his own tracks. This was too important. He was sure Interpol would understand.

Suddenly he was brought to a hold by a firewall which intricacy was beyond anything he’d ever seen before. No matter where he poked or prodded, he couldn’t even begin to find a suitable entry point. This was so far beyond his capabilities he had no chance of gaining entry. He looked up at GHOST and opened his mouth to speak but was taken aback at what he saw. Q’s eyes were closed, his body rigid and his hands were clenched into fists. For a moment Jordan thought about leaving Q alone, but he couldn’t. They would lose MU3RT0S forever if he gave up now.

“GHOST I need your help.” He called out loudly, hoping it would shake Q out of whatever he was in.

As soon as he finished shouting, Q was hanging over his back, his hands flying over the keyboard. His body was relaxed, as if nothing had happened at all.

“Damn, he ran his signal through google.” Q said. Jordan internally groaned. This was it then. There was no way in hell they would be able to find MU3RT0S now.

It was over. They had lost.

But Q was still typing. Jordan started to pay attention to what he was doing. Q had abruptly cut off the trail he had caused. Closing that session entirely. Going as far as logging Jordan out of the system. Now he was doing something Jordan couldn’t even begin to comprehend. The code was all unfamiliar to him.

Suddenly Q’s fingers faltered for a moment and a jerk went through his body. Jordan heard a rumbling sound coming out of the Bluetooth wireless headset that Q was wearing and he wondered what the hell was going on. Q was already recovering however.

“007, I have no eyes on you. Report when able, please.” Was all Q said as he continued typing as if nothing happened.

Suddenly he spotted the IP-address he was chasing come by and suddenly there was an activity log on the display. Jordan wasted no time sharing what he knew.

“He’s cleaning up after himself. No activity except entrance and exit. That’s how you’ll find him.” He said. He saw Q scan and find what he was looking for. Then the unfamiliar code reappeared and suddenly his MI6 login screen reappeared.

“This is classified, Jordan.” He heard in his ear and Q was off his back. Jordan quickly logged back in. No shit this was classified. How many backdoors had GHOST left behind in his hacking career? He’d never even heard of any of GHOST’s targets finding one in their system. It probably meant that Q could get into any and every major company in the world at a moment’s notice.

“Fire and rescue will be on their way to the train momentarily, 007, and I already put out an alert that the hearing will be attacked.” He heard Q say as he returned to his own laptop. Jordan got back to work, tracing the IP-address Q had left behind. He was on the home stretch now, he knew. MU3RT0S had used Google as a shield. The next big firewall he hit was probably the hacker’s own computer. He proceeded a little more cautiously, hoping to not to tip off the hacker that he was still on his trail.

He was right. It was only 5 addresses later when he hit it. He was sure this was it. MU3RT0S’s computer. It was wirelessly logged into a free WIFI point so he had to be physically there. Jordan didn’t hesitate.

“I found him. He’s in London. Near the McDonalds on The Queens Walk. He’s logged into their WIFI.” He reported.

“He wanted to watch, the stupid bastard. I’ll take it from here.” Q replied. Jordan sat back and watched as Q called someone and work CCTV at the same time.

“April, I need you to divert a team to arrest the hacker responsible for this mess. He’s on the queens walk sitting in the McDonalds’ outside seating area. Sending a picture to you now. Codename MU3RT0S. Yes, that one. He’s not onto us yet so ambush him. I want his laptop when you’re done.” He rang off.

“Come see your work.” Q said to him and Jordan saw CCTV pop up on his laptop. The arrogant man in the picture was sitting back at the table arms crossed over his chest as he stared across the water. Probably enjoying the sirens and screams, Jordan thought distastefully. Suddenly the man moved, hands shooting out towards his laptop before he jerked and toppled over. Jordan let out an explosive sigh. They’d done it.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up at Q.

“Good job, CR0W.” Q said. Jordan thought he’d burst with pride at the praise. Then he heard small popping sounds and frowned until he saw Q grimace, sent a quick message on his phone before turning back to his screen. This day wasn’t over yet.

* * *

‘Well, Q caught his hacker. At least one thing has gone right today.’ James thought. Unfortunately, that was not the case for him. No matter how hard he tried he hadn’t gotten Silva. Numerous people were dead because of that man’s quest for something he hadn’t even been able to do. Bond hadn’t seen it, but M was no coward. She would’ve stared down Silva until that man either pulled the trigger or someone pulled her down. In the end, they had been in a Mexican standoff. Bullets just flying without hitting the men they were supposed to hit with a lot of civilians in the way. Shooting the fire extinguishers had created the desired effect. A way to safely get the civilians out, get M out. Unfortunately, Silva had realised he’d lost this round and left. Bond had gone after him when he realised but he was already gone.

Q had been quiet in his ear since the start of the shooting. Bond was grateful for that. It would’ve been hard to concentrate otherwise. But now he needed to alert him.

“Q, Silva’s gone.”

“Roger, I’ll have someone on the lookout for him. Please, state your intentions and anything I can help you with.”

“I’m heading for M’s car. Make sure it isn’t stopped, please.”

“On it.”

He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to take this fight away from London. Take M away from London. He just hoped she would play ball.

The door behind him was pulled open and M was put into the car. James took off as soon as the door closed. It seemed Q had done his job because he passed through the cordon without trouble.

“007, what the hell are we doing? Are you kidnapping me?” M asked indignantly.

“Well, that’s one way of looking at it.” He answered sarcastically. M fell quiet and stared out of the window to the chaos that was London.

“Too many people are dying because of me.” She said with a hint of remorse in her voice. James didn’t like the weakness he heard. That weakness would get her killed. James was willing to fight for her, he just hoped she was willing to fight for herself too. Time to put his cards on the table.

“If he wants you, he’s going to have to come out and get you. We’ve been one step behind Silva from the start. It’s time to get out in front, change the game.”

“And I’m to be the bait?” Bond just met her eyes because quite frankly yes that’s what she was to be. “All right. Just us. No one else.” Good, she got the picture. He knew just where to take her. He just needed a little help in getting Silva there too. And M was not going to like it.

“Q?” He watched M’s expression turn sour to such a degree he’d never seen before, it was spectacular.

“Tracking the car.” Q’s voice didn’t come from the earpiece but from the car’s speakers.

“I need you to lay out a trail of breadcrumbs impossible to follow for anyone but Silva.”

“Then I need M’s permission to allow Silva onto the server. We know he will look for the car signal there, now that he no longer has a hacker. I will make sure no one else can access the information. I assume you’ll change cars? Take out the earpiece before you do. I don’t believe it can be traced but I’m not 100 percent certain. Leave it on the dash. I know R will want to examine the self-destruct residue.”

“What about the others? Can you trace them when they’re not active?”

“You took the whole box, didn’t you? R’s going to kill you when you get back. They aren’t active unless put in your ear. So, you’re safe to take them with you.”

“Just one final question. How do you take it out? Because it’s quite small and far up my ear. Not entirely comfortable to put in either by the way.”

“You can put that in the after-action report R will sure want you to write. As for taking it out wet your finger with your mouth and stick it in your ear. The casing is starch based and will start to break down and become sticky from the enzymes in your saliva. The earpiece will stick to your finger and then you can pull it out.”

“In other words, I need to give myself a wet willy.” He asked back in disbelief.

“Yep.” Q replied popping the P.

James laughed and shook his head before he made eye contact with M, who had heard the entire conversation with a stony expression.

“Do it. Don’t you dare inform him. No one else.” She said.

“My lips are sealed.” Q answered. “What’s your destination and when do you fictively want to arrive there?”

“We’re going back in time.” James hinted. He was sure Q would figure it out. “Make arrival time around noon tomorrow, later if you can manage without raising suspicion.”

“All right. Good luck.” And with that Q fell silent.

With a sigh he wet his finger and grimaced at what he needed to do.


	15. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> Thank you for reading and liking my story. I've been enjoying writing this story, but I've surprised myself with how much I enjoy reading your comments and replying to them. I'm a complete introvert but instead of dreading your comments, I've been looking forward to them. So, please leave a comment if you like the next chapter.
> 
> This chapter did not want to be written, which was really frustrating after the flow I'd been the last two weeks. It's short too compared to the other chapters but it just didn't want to grow anymore. I'm going to post it now and hope I don't regret it in the morning because quite quite frankly I just can't look at it anymore.
> 
> I hope you like it though

_It was a bit dull anyway. MH_

Was the message Mycroft had left to let him know he was still alive. It had sent Q into an adrenaline crash like he’d never experienced before and he sat back and closed his eyes for a moment to battle the sheer exhaustion that suddenly settled over him. Today had been one hell of a rollercoaster ride. One he wouldn’t like to experience again any time soon. The three times Bond almost died in his ear had had more impact on him then he’d liked to admit. He knew he had already been emotionally compromised before that, but that didn’t change that in those moments there had been nothing he could do, but hope the agent was alive. The emotional impact of that wasn’t something he had considered when he’d thought up his plans for handlers.

The normal lights came on suddenly causing everyone around him to start cheering. Q smiled. It was a great milestone. If R had fixed the lighting it meant she was done securing the building. He motioned for a runner, one of the people who had nothing to do at this moment of crisis, and asked him to find R and 006 and ask they report to him for an update if they were able.

The cheerful mood fled the room quickly as the TV’s in the room came on and the BBC showed the devastation Silva had left behind. There were already reports of over 30 deaths and hundreds of wounded, most from the busy train that had almost dropped on 007’s head. All of Westminster was under lockdown and the areas around Embankment and Parliament were a mass of blue flashing lights. In between the areal footage of the disasters though, footage was shown of the capture of MU3RT0S. April had released the footage as soon as became clear that the hacker was alive though severely wounded by a shot in the shoulder. It showed a victory in an otherwise bleak day.

R and Stephen Ward came with more bleak news. Eight guards had been shot dead during Silva’s escape. Medical hadn’t been able to save any of them. At the moment they lay in body bags in medical’s brand-new morgue. Q closed his eyes for only a moment, fighting the exhaustion again, hoping the others wouldn’t notice. When he opened his eyes again, he saw R watching him though.

“Q?” He waved her off, straightening.

That moment Tanner entered the hall scanned it from the balcony and approached them as soon as he spotted them.

“M has been taken.” He said quietly enough that only the three of them could hear. R started to get up and 006 followed with a quiet swear. Q just sat back again.

“Relax, Bond has her. They’ve agreed on a plan to get Silva out of London.” Ward was the first to figure it out.

“Bait?” 006 hissed. “He’s going to use M as bait?”

“How is that legal?” R asked.

“At the moment it isn’t. If it becomes necessary, I’ll clear it with the British government.” He said lightly. The others looked at one another, not at all comfortable with the idea.

“She chose to do this?” Tanner asked.

“Bond put forward the proposal. M acknowledged that she would be bait in that situation, agreed and then said to keep everyone else out. Those were her wishes. She confirmed them multiple times. I have the recording should you feel the need to hear it.” Q said firmly, leaving no room for doubt. Tanner nodded.

“How will Silva find them? I take it they’ve gone dark.” Ward asked.

“I’ll plant a fake car trail on the server for Silva to find.” Q answered.

“You’re taking an awful lot of risk there, Q.” Tanner said. “That is borderline treason.”

“I know what I’m doing, don’t worry.” Q answered with such conviction the others, knowing his connections, didn’t question him.

They broke up after that. R and Ward doing rounds, Tanner hanging out with him. He was officially off the clock so Q didn’t begrudge him the Alcohol-free beer he was drinking. Tanner knew that he had to take over when Q went home after this. Apparently, while he had been working on securing the lab, Bond had asked the minions, and yes, he’d actually called them that to their faces, to make sure their overlord general got some rest. Minions were tattletales, Q found and shortly after the meeting R got on his case and forced him to go home after he was done. He suspected half the reason Tanner was hanging out with him was to enforce her orders.

“It’s a fine line.” Q mumbled as he worked on his trail of breadcrumbs. “Hide the trail too much and he won’t find it. Too little and he’ll spot a rat.” He created a source program and hid it as a pdf-file in M’s personnel file, before starting to create a fake tracking program that would display the fake trail.

“To think Silva would think to look there.”

“It’s not hard to find. Everyone who knows a bit about technology knows pdf-files are never that size. But he’s the only one who has reason to go looking for it and would look for it there.” Q replied. Tanner frowned at his callousness at what was essentially treason. Then his eyes got big.

“Sir…” He got over his lips with a struggle. Q rolled his eyes at how bad a liar Tanner was. No wonder the man was no field agent. He turned and spotted Mallory walking up to them, his arm in a sling. Q didn’t even bother getting worried, the man was Mycroft’s through and through after all.

“How’s the arm?” He asked.

“Will heal.” Mallory replied. The man took a look at the screen. “Ah. A fake car tracking signal. Breadcrumbs to M? Who has her anyway?”

“Bond.” He replied.

“Good, at least we know he’ll do whatever he can to protect her.” Q raised an eyebrow. He knew Mallory wasn’t fond of Bond.

“I judged too hastily in his case.” Mallory replied at the silent question which made both of Q’s eyebrows rise. One of the many reasons he hated most politicians was that they didn’t admit mistakes. “No need to rub it in.” Mallory answered in a fake annoyed voice. Q sniggered

“Have you cleared it with the British government yet?” Mallory asked.

“No, because he would stick his nose in and M doesn’t want his Majesty involved. Doesn’t want anyone involved for that matter. But I’m sure he’ll have no objections. Especially after her latest cock-up left him in the line of fire as well.” Q answered lightly.

“What time do you expect Silva to arrive?” Mallory asked.

“Tomorrow sometime after 3.” He answered with a frown, wondering what Mallory was up to.

“I’ll inform him then. That way, he still knew in advance but he won’t have time to react. He can do the clean-up.” Q burst into laughter at the thought.

“I like the way you work.”

“Yes, well, you’d better be right about his reaction or we’re all buggered. Carry on.” Mallory said and he turned to walk away.

“Tell him to start looking for a new M.” Q said grimly. Mallory turned back with an eyebrow raised in question. “At least 40 people have died as a result of her decision. No matter how this will end, she’s done.” Mallory nodded once and walked away.

“Bugger, you really were the only reason she still had a job, weren’t you?” Tanner asked. Q didn’t bother to answer the question. Tanner already knew the answer after all.

* * *

36 hours later Q was back behind his laptop, cursing again for not having a better one. He was feeling a whole lot better. Sleep really was good medicine. The tension in his body had eased and his mind was clear once again. The traumas of the day before had not been forgotten however. He needed to speak about them, both for himself and for future handlers. He wanted to put a system of support into place and know what to watch out for when hiring handlers. And he needed to do this before he put his final plans for recruitment into place. That wouldn’t keep him from hacking Disney though, like the quality of his laptop was.

The alarm alerting him to an incoming signal from an earpiece went off three hours later. Q quickly attaching the headset he’d used yesterday he opened the connection.

“007, reporting in.” The agent was short and clearly barely holding it together so Q decided to follow the agent’s example and keep a strict level of professionalism until the agent decided otherwise.

“This is Q. Ready for your report, 007.” He said keeping his voice calm with only a hint of warmth.

“Silva’s dead, so is M.”

Q was silent for a moment. This had always been a possibility off course. Bond wasn’t infallible after all. But Q had had high hopes.

“Understood.” He answered as he got his phone out of his pocket. “Do you require medical attention?” He asked as he fired off a quick message to Mycroft.

_Eta Skyfall? 007 checked in. Silva’s dead, M’s dead. Q_

“No.” The agent replied shortly. Q looked at his phone

_Eta 30 min. MH_

“Clean up will be there in thirty, 007. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“No.” Bond replied and then took the earpiece out. Q sighed, knowing the clean-up crew would find the place deserted. Bond would be in no shape to deal with anyone at the moment. Q mentally added the task of keeping an eye on metro and Scotland Yard databases for the agent’s name.

As he got back to work, he wondered how long it would be before he saw the agent again.


	16. The end of an era

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading and loving my story. I thought I'd end this story here. Don't worry the next one is already in the works. First chapter should be up soon. 
> 
> I want to thank everyone who commented on the story. I love reading them. They gave me such a high. 
> 
> I'm so happy to have written and posted my first ever fanfiction. I've been reading fics for over 20 years now and I never would've imagined when I started reading them that I'd ever write my own or have the courage to post it.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this final chapter of the first fic in a series that's only in its infancy.

“We are gathered here today to remember one of our own.”

It was the second time that week Q heard those words. The first had been for the security guards that had been killed during the escape. That speech had also been held by Tanner, who was quite good with these speeches apparently.

“M died surrounded by enemies, all of whom she took with her. She died trying to keep them away from us. She died the way many agents want to go. She died fighting.”

The hall was full as they all listened, Q with half an eye on all activity on the server and all incoming and outgoing transmissions. This would be the perfect opportunity for someone to cause trouble after all. Everyone who had anything to do with MI6 and was in England was standing in this hall.

“M was special. She found us. Gave us jobs. Changed our lives. She led us and we followed her. She made sure we did our jobs. And when some of us didn’t come home, she mourned with us.”

Everyone except 007 it seemed. The agent had fallen off the grid completely after he’d talked to Q. Q had searched for the agent when hadn’t returned to headquarters after 3 days. But there was no trace of him anywhere. He hadn’t used public transport, hadn’t checked into a hotel and he hadn’t made any financial transactions. He had simply vanished. Q was a bit worried about the agent, seeing as he had been in a bit of a state when he had reported in.

“But today we mourn her. Today we say goodbye to an era that has come to an end. I ask you for a moment of silence before we all do as she would’ve wanted us to do. To stop this nonsense and get the hell on with it.” A soft chuckle filtered through the hall before silence fell.

Q was filled with melancholy as he thought back to the brief time he had known M. The woman had been a menace. She had thwarted him whenever possible, ignored him, bullied him and antagonized him. There were many ways her behaviour could be described but professional wasn’t one of them. Still Q couldn’t help but admire her. He had seen the strong capable leader she had been when he hadn’t been involved. The cold professionalism that he recognized in Mycroft. The ability to make hard decisions and live with them. It was one of the character trades Q had tried and failed to attain. Caring wasn’t an advantage after all.

“Back to work everyone.” Tanner said after a minute or so had passed. The beehive started to buzz as people went back to their desks and got on with their lives. Q stayed where he was for a moment, waiting for the others to get back to the restored IT department and take over the monitoring.

“Are you sure you’ve outgrown your spots?” He heard a teasing voice behind him. “I’m sure I can see one or two forming.”

“I cheated on my diet. Pizza and my skin have a poor relationship.” Q replied without looking up. He knew that voice even though he had only heard it once. “How was the rest of your stay in Jakarta?”

“Delightfully dull, thank you.” 003 answered. “Unlike London. You guys had all the fun by the looks of it.”

“Yes, things have been a bit hectic. You double-0’s know how to leave a mess behind.” He shot back. He saw the others log in and finally shut his laptop and looked up to the other agent. Brian Shaw seemed to be the epitome of what women called a silver fox. It was no wonder the agent was still used in honeypot missions and had retained his double-0 status despite being only 5 years away from mandatory retirement at 50 years old. He might even be the first to actually make it.

“Oh? Who was so naughty to play in our own back garden?” Shaw asked playfully though there was an undercurrent of danger in his voice.

“Raoul Silva.” Q answered simply

“Thought he was dead.” Shaw asked with raised eyebrows.

“Yes, that tends to happen a lot with you double-0’s. 007 returned from the dead too after the explosion of the old headquarters. He was the one trying to keep Silva away from M. After they messed up London some more, M and Bond skipped town and when Silva caught up with them, they made one hell of a mess up north. Too bad there was one bullet too many.” Q answered faking chagrin badly. Shaw snorted.

“I bet there’s more to the story then that. Fill me in, will you?” Q did. Telling about Silva’s escape, the shoot-out in parliament and then repeating the information from the rapport he’d gotten from Mycroft about Skyfall. Kincade, Bond’s gamekeeper, had given an eye witness account but the burned-out exploded manor, complete with helicopter carcass and the remains of more than two dozen men really said enough. It was a miracle that Bond had survived and had almost managed to save M. She had bled out from a gunshot wound to the abdomen that she had failed to mention to the men protecting her. Stubborn right till the end.

“She went the way she wanted then.” Shaw concluded sadly.

“I think so. She would’ve hated retirement.” Q answered.

“Very true.” The agent concurred. “Where is 7 by the way? Didn’t see him in the hall.”

“He vanished after reporting in.” Q couldn’t help but let the worry he felt bleed into his voice.

“Don’t worry about him, Q. He’ll turn up when he’s ready.” Shaw reassured him. “By the way where do you want your equipment? Still got that nice little thingamajig you helped me with.” Q snorted with laughter because he knew the agent knew bloody well it was called a dongle now. Agents had memories like elephants after all.

“Equipment goes to R. Let me introduce you before you give her lab rats a heart attack like the others double-0’s enjoy doing.” He stood gathered his laptop. Shaw and Mansfield had it right. He just had to get on with it. MI6 would bounce back. And 007 would turn up eventually. Life went on and there was work to do.

And when they left the hall no one looked up or commented on their presence. Everyone was hard at work making the world a little safer. It was just another day in the life of MI6.

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I, of course own neither James Bond nor Sherlock but I do enjoy smashing their worlds together.


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